Oh My, No Need For Ranma Ball Z
by Cyco Chuck
Summary: A messed up story from my messed up mind is the only way I can describe it.
1.

PROLOGE  
  
In the universe, there are four factions at play. Three of these are in constant struggle while the other sits idly by and waits for a victor. Now, you may be saying to yourself, "four sides?" I admit, it does sound strange, but hear me out. Everyone knows about two of the sides, "Good" and "Evil," or "Black" and "White," but the other two sides never get mentioned, nor does what their true intentions are for fighting. We'll start from the beginning.  
  
The white and black sides fight each other for control of the universe and to prove that their beliefs are right. The whites are fighting for purity of mind and spirit, for total joy and contempment. But they do not realize that by doing so, they are dooming the very essence of that what makes us human. For without the stirring of the soul for something better, humanity would have gone extinct a thousand times over. On the other side of the coin we have black, which only want to have all their wants and desires filled, not caring who or what they had to destroy to get it.  
  
One would think that it is the different views and the clash between them that is keeping the world we know it around. Unfortunately, that is not the case. For it these two where allow to run free to fight their fight, amagetton would have happened and humanity would be destroyed. This is where the third member of the eternal struggle comes in, the grays (and I don't mean the aliens.) Grays have the power of both white and black, and cannot be affected by their powers. Their sole purpose is to keep the black and white factions from having their war and keeping humanity alive.  
  
The final side of this conflict really has no interest in ruling. They are only around to give an objective view on the universe and to make sure that the other three follow certain rules. They are known as outsiders. They most commonly take jobs as fates. But enough of that, its time to start the story. 


	2. 

Chapter 1  
  
It's a dark night in Nerima, forbidding clouds hang low in the sky with the occasional flash of lightning. A lone figure is hopping from rooftop to rooftop. Stopping on a roof as the rain begins to pour, he scratches his baldhead and looks about his surroundings.  
  
Off in a distance, another figure is hopping from rooftop to rooftop with her staff heading directly towards the first figure. Taking one final great leap, she lands on the rooftop with the first figure. As lightning clashes around them causing a shiver to run through their spine.  
  
She looks over at her companion. "This is not good Happy."  
  
He still looks up at the sky, "I know, and he is still not ready for this yet. There is still much that we haven't taught him that he needs to know."  
  
"Then I suggest you two stop playing around and get to work." Happosai and Cologne both turn in surprise and see a tall figure step out of the shadows wearing a gray cloak. "We have waited for over 300 years for this moment. You two have had plenty of time to not only prepare him, but the other as well. Yet I find that neither are even close to where they should be at." His voice boomed with the same force as the thunder overhead. Chilling both Cologne and Happosai's heart as the darkest demon would, yet comforting the at the same time as the purest of pure angels would.  
  
"It's not as if we haven't tried, but they are both stubborn. ESPEICALLY HIM!!" Happosai knew he said something wrong when he saw two gray glowing orbs appear under the other's hood.  
  
Cologne quickly stepped in between them. "It's not like we weren't following what you and the fates told us too, but neither of them will listen."  
  
The figure looked at her, hood growing dark as the orbs slowly fade. "That may be true, but it doesn't help when you two are playing your games with those two giving them no reason to trust you." He looks up as lightning flashes and the rain stops. " And on top of it all, the other hasn't even begun training."  
  
Happosai took a step to the side just before lightning stuck where he was standing. "The fates told us that was to be his job."  
  
"That maybe so, but we are running out of time. Cologne, take care of your distraction and train him properly. Happosai, you'll have to give up your hobby for a while and do the same." Turning his gaze back towards them, "and make sure the other is there too. Figure out a way to get him to train them, I don't care how but do it."  
  
Cologne hangs her head in defeat. "But, I was hoping that Shampoo could still have him. My tribe could use his bloodline in it."  
  
"COLOGNE!!!!" Gray orbs returning under the hood, "You have known that it could never be. Now either you get rid of the distraction, or I will as your punishment. I no longer have time to waste. We all know what will happen if they are not ready."  
  
"There are other distractions, what about them? Cologne doesn't have the only distraction, and we really can't be held responsible for them."  
  
The figure's eyes dim slightly. "You do not have to worry about them Happy. They are being taken care of as we speak. Now get to work." With that, the eyes vanish back into the darkness of the robe just before the figure vanishes into midair.  
  
"You know Cologne, this may be more than Ranma can handle. What are we going to do if he fails?"  
  
Looking over to her companion with fear on her face, "If he fails, then we may all be doomed."  
  
With that, they both jump off the roof and into the night. 


	3. 

Chapter 2  
  
Ukyo lies in her bed tossing and turning. A figure appears in her room standing next to her after the room is filled with a blinding flash of lightning from the window. From the brief flashed of lightning outside, it can be seen that the person is wearing a hooded gray cloak.  
  
Ukyo turns to her side and grabs a pillow next to her, "Oh Ranma! I love you too."  
  
The figure's eyes begin to glow gray as he held out his hand over Ukyo's head. As he places his hand onto her forehead it begins to glow gray, filling the room with blinding light. As the light fades, the figure is gone and Ukyo is still sleeping unaware of what has happened.  
  
Ukyo is standing behind her counter closing up shop for the night. The only person left in her restaurant was her beloved Ranma, who was helping her by sweeping up the restaurant while keeping her company. As Ranma finishes sweeping, Ukyo just stands behind the counter watching Ranma.  
  
"Ranma, thanks for helping out, even if it'll make Akane mad."  
  
He turns and smiles at her, "I rather be here that with that uncute tomboy. At least you appreciate me being here."  
  
Her heart skips a beat That smile, I love it when he smiles at me. Then her heart almost leaps out of her chest when she realizes what he has said. "REALLY Ranma! You rather be here with me than with Akane?" I can't believe he said that. Does he mean it? PLEASE say that you mean it.   
  
"Of course Ucchan! You're a better cook, you don't hit me all the time with mallets, and most of all, and you are WAY cuter than Akane will ever be."  
  
FINALLY! Ranma realizes I'm the one he should love. Now if I can only get him to tell me. "Oh Ranchan!"  
  
He drops the broom and jumps over the counter to stand next to her. He takes her hand into his, causing her to blush. "Ucchan, I wanted to tell you this tonight over dinner, but I can't wait any longer. I have broken off my engagements to Akane and Shampoo. I told them I wasn't ever in love with them and could never love them."  
  
He's going to do it; he's really going to do it this time. Clam down girl; don't get too excited until he says it. "Ranchan, I?"  
  
Ranma gently places a finger on her lips to hush her. "Ukyo, there is something that I've been wanting to tell you for a long time but was unable to until now. Ucchan, I love you, I've always loved you."  
  
Tears of joy fill her eyes. YES! He's finally said it. He loves ME! Not those other hussies. She wraps him into a tight hug, tears pouring out of her eyes "Oh Ranma! I love you too."  
  
She releases her hold on him and looks into his eyes. Ranma wraps his arms around her and moves in for a kiss. Just before their lips touch, the room is filled with a blinding flash of light. When it subsides, Ukyo is left standing in a void with her eyes closed waiting for the kiss that will never come.  
  
Come on Ranma, kiss me already! Ukyo opened her eyes to find that not only Ranma was gone, but so was her restaurant. "Hey, what happened?" Her voice echoed through the void. "Ranma! Where are you?" Nothing but her echo replied. "I bet that Shampoo had something to do with this, since she doesn't realize that Ranma doesn't love her and that she doesn't have a chance of getting him."  
  
"Nor do you." Replied a demonic/angelic voice.  
  
Turning white from fear, "Wh.. who s.. said that?" A figure in a hooded gray cloak appeared six feet in font of her. His face was hidden by the black void inside the hood. Ukyo took a step back in fear. Then, remembering her training went into a defensive stance. "Who are you? Where am I and what have you done to Ranma?!"  
  
The figure just stared at her, as if she posed no threat. "My name is not important at this time. And as where you are, I am in your dreams."  
  
"A dream? How can that be? It felt so real, right down to the way things smelled and felt like." Shaking her head, "No, it can't be a dream. This has to be something that chinese hussy did to keep me from Ranma."  
  
"Child, this is a dream. The only reason it feels so real is because of my involvement." Taking a few steps to close the gap between them. "And as for you and Ranma, I'm afraid that your relationship cannot and must not be anything more than friends."  
  
Tears form in her eyes. "LIAR! Ranma loves me, I know it!"  
  
"Yes child, her does." Her guard drops and a smile creeps over her face. "But, it is a brotherly love and nothing else."  
  
NO! It can't be true. Ukyo falls to her knees in disbelief. "But, I love him." Anger flashes in her eyes. "Why should I believe you? I have no idea who you are."  
  
"Very well, if it'll help you I'll show you my human form." Eyes in the dark hood start to glow gray, causing Ukyo to fall backwards. The figure began to ripple like a rock thrown into a pool. His body was soon an unidentifiable blob, as the ripples began to subside, a well know figure know stood in front of Ukyo.  
  
"R.. Ran? Ranma?"  
  
The figure that stood before Ukyo now, did look like Ranma except for several differences. Ranma's chinese clothing now consisted of dark gray pants and a light gray shirt. His hair looked as if it was chrome plated and his eyes were light gray. Neither his face nor eyes showed any emotion. "Sorry, but I am not Ranma."  
  
"Then, who are you?"  
  
"I am the one that oversees his destiny. I'm afraid that your role in it is not the one you wanted it to be. And your destiny is to be with another."  
  
A single tear creeps down her cheek. "Why? Why can't I have him? Why are you telling me this? And most of all, why should I believe you?"  
  
He walks towards Ukyo and closes the gap so that only a couple of feet remained between them. "Why am I telling you this? Lets just say Ranma has stepped away from his destiny and needs to be put back on track. As for why you can't have him," he holds out his hand to her, "take my hand and I'll answer the question for you."  
  
Wiping the tear from her cheek before taking his hand. His hand felt cold and chilling, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to rise. Yet, there was something else there in the touch that comforted her. "This better be good."  
  
"When this is over you will understand why you can't have him." He gently closed his hand around hers as his eyes began to glow around them.  
  
Ukyo is blinded by a flash of light, when it clears she noticed that she was back at her restaurant. "Why are we back here, I thought you were going to show me why I can't have Ranma."  
  
He pulls her to her feet. "I am, we are 10 years in the future, in a time line the you do marry Ranma." He notices the confused look on her face. "No, they cannot see or hear us. Just observe."  
  
Just then, Ranma came storming out from the back room. Anger and hate filled his eyes. "Ukyo, when CAN I go training? All I do is work all day here with you. You never let me train anymore. I'm so out of it that Kuno beat me yesterday, and Ryoga doesn't even see me as a challenge. Hell, Akane can even beat me now!"  
  
An older and pregnant Ukyo came waddling out behind him, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You promised when you married me that you would work here with me. And now that the twins are on the way, you want to leave me to go on some stupid training trip with Ryoga!"  
  
Ranma turns to face her, "Ever since I married you five years ago, all I HAVE done is stayed here and work with you. Day in, and day out, all I do is cook and clean. The only exercise I do get is when I got you pregnant. And the only reason that you wanted kids was so that they can work here too and you wouldn't have to hire anyone."  
  
The younger Ukyo gasps. "I had no idea that it'll hurt him. I've always dreamt of me and him spending our lives happily working together here."  
  
Her guide turns to her, "Watch, there is more."  
  
The pregnant Ukyo rubbed her belly. "If its that damn bad for you then why don't you leave."  
  
Ranma slams his fist on the counter. "I've told you this before, I can't. I made a vow to you and my mother that by my honor I would not leave you. But I AM going on this trip."  
  
"But Ranma?"  
  
"QUIET!" Ranma's battle aura began to glow bright blue. "I said I was going. And when I get back, I'm moving into the guest room."  
  
"But what about the twins?"  
  
"I'll stay and be a father to them, and work to support them." He looks around, "But not here! I'm going to take Mr. Tendo's offer and work at the dojo. Bye Ukyo." Ranma leaps over the counter and out the door, disappearing into the night. Both Ukyos collapses to their knees and cry.  
  
The younger one looks at her guide. "Were we ever happy?"  
  
The guide places his hand on her shoulder, "For the first year of marriage. But as the years passed, you too grew further and further apart and Ranma fell further from his destiny. Having love and pride was the key to him completing his destiny. But with neither, he failed and paid the ultimate sacrifice for it."  
  
Ukyo felt some small glimmer of hope left. "But now that I know what will happen, I can change it. I still can have Ranma, can't I?"  
  
"No child, there is no way to avoid this if you marry him. The fates have guaranteed this. You might be able to stretch your happiness to last a year and a half, maybe two years of your marriage. But in the end, you'll be right back here." the restaurant is replaced by a graveyard. He points to a headstone in front of them. "And Ranma will be there."  
  
The lightning flashes, showing Ukyo the name on the headstone. Ranma Satome. Breaking into tears "NO!!!" Ranma, I've done this to you. I made it so that you can't complete your destiny. "Is there a way to stop this?"  
  
The guide lifts her to her feet, and gently wipes the tears from her face. "Be the friend that he sees in you. Help him to truly follow his heart no matter how much it hurt now. In time, you will get over the hurt and realize that you only saw a friend and brother in him. Then, you will be ready to complete your own destiny."  
  
"Do I know who he ends up with?"  
  
"Maybe, if you can see the clues." Chimes from a clock sound in the distance. "I must go. Take care of Ranma and yourself." He vanished into midair.  
  
Ukyo woke up startled and set up in bed, just as some distant clock finished its chimes; sweat drenching her brow. She looks over at her alarm clock, "Four o'clock! Man, what a dream. I wonder if it was real."  
  
Just then, Ukyo noticed the gray cloak hanging off the chair in the corner. 


	4. 

Chapter 3  
  
It is a bright sunny morning at the Tendo residence. Unfortunately, the tranquil peace does not last, as a little black pig goes barreling down the stairs being chased by Ranma in his male form carrying a teakettle.  
  
"Get back here Ryoga! Its time to face the music." Ranma sloshes the kettle, trying to hit the pig with the water.  
  
The pig dodges from side to side, barely missing the water. "Bwwweeee!"  
  
Running after them, is Akane with the mallet of doom and destruction in her hands. "RANMA! Stop picking on P-chan!"  
  
As the rest of the family sit at the table having breakfast, they watch as the pursuit is taken into the kitchen. Nobody seems to take notice of the fight, or the large sign on Akane's mallet from the surgeon general stating that it should not be used on living creatures.  
  
Kasumi hears crashes from the kitchen as the war wages on. "Oh my!"  
  
Soun turns to his friend next to him. "You know Satome, I am really starting to tire of these peaceful morning being ruined by that boy."  
  
Genma pauses a moment from shoveling food in his face. "I hope you don't mean Ranma."  
  
"No, although he doesn't help much. I was referring to that pig."  
  
A bucket of water comes flying out of the kitchen and land in top of Genma, turning him into a panda. Genma holds up a sign that says (You know Tendo, I'm getting tired of all the cold baths I get when they fight.) The war party runs by again, heading back into the living room. Loud crashes, a pig going "bwwweee," Ranma in female form demanding Ryoga to give up, and Akane telling Ranma to leave P-chan alone can be head by the family.  
  
Nabiki was already figuring out how much this was going to cost to repair. "Why doesn't Ranma just tell Akane out right that that her beloved P-chan is really Ryoga?"  
  
Genma holds up another sign. (Ryoga made Ranma swear on his honor not to tell Akane.)  
  
Nabiki just glares at him. "Well.. his honor is doing nothing but destroying the place." Guess I'll have to take care of this problem myself.   
  
Sounds of the war party move closer. "Akane, if you would stop being so stupid and listen for once."  
  
Everyone at the table stopped and ducked. They knew what was coming next. "RANMA, NO BAKA!!!!" A loud thud was heard, and everyone watched as Ranma went flying over their heads out the open door.  
  
Nabiki just marked an item off her repair list. "At least Akane's aim is getting better. We don't have to fix another hole in the wall."  
  
Both Soun and Genma nod in agreement.  
  
Ranma walked on the fence on the way to school. Akane was a little was ahead of him, still angry about this morning. Uncute tomboy. If you would only listen to me we wouldn't fight so much. It's all Ryoga's fault anyways. Not only is he keeping his curse a secrete from her, but he is making me do it as well. Ranma clinches his fist in anger. And we were getting along so well, I wasn't even getting malleted. That is, until P- chan had to show back up and crawl into her bed. He looks down at Akane. I even got her to smile at me before he came back.   
  
Akane ran the morning's events through her mind. BAKA! Why did he have to ruin it? We were getting along without fighting for a week, until P- chan showed back up. Why is he so jealous of P-chan? It seems like he goes out of his way to make me mad. And, what was the deal of chasing him around with the kettle? I swear! Ranma thinks everybody has a Jusenkyo curse anymore.   
  
Nabiki sat in the computer lab, adding the final touches to her plan. This morning's events was the final straw, the repairs was going to cost her three months worth of work. That big of a withdraw from her account cannot be allowed to go unanswered.  
  
She quickly saved the document to a disk, and placed it in the "In" box on the desk in the rear of the room. Today, at lunch, everyone will see it in the school's paper. Nabiki then exited the room, turning off the lights on the way out.  
  
As soon as the door closed, a figure in a hooded gray robe appeared next to the desk. He held his hand over the disk until it turned gray. Then, the figure faded out of existence.  
  
Nabiki exited the room and immediately bumped into Ted, the exchange student from America that was also the paper's editor. Nabiki allowed a smile to creep on her face. "Ted, just the guy I was looking for. I have a proposition for you."  
  
Ted's grin vanished as soon as Nabiki said "proposition." "The last time you said that, I ended owning you 50,000 yen."  
  
Nabiki flashed him her patented "Oh, I'm hurt" look. "Trust me. All you have to do is print the file on a disk in there on the front page today, and you can say goodbye to your debt."  
  
He looks at her puzzled. "That's it?"  
  
"That's it."  
  
"Deal!"  
  
Ranma and Akane approached the front gates to the school and notice Kuno was blocking the path again, waiting for his daily beating. Ranma was in no mood to put up with him on normal days. He definitely didn't want to see him today.  
  
"Ranma Satome, I..." Kuno never had a chance to finish. Ranma's fist hit Kuno directly on the chin and sent him flying through the air.  
  
Meanwhile, back in Houston Texas at NASA's mission control, a technician calls over his supervisor to look at something on his monitor.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Sir, Japan has just launched another satellite into orbit."  
  
"What does it look like?"  
  
Looking at the screen carefully. "It looks like a guy holding a stick."  
  
The supervisor looks at his watch. "Damn, my watch is running slow today."  
  
Mission control face faults.  
  
Ranma and Akane got to class just in time. Kuno wasn't so lucky. It took him longer than usual to apply the burn cream and change clothes (what was left of them) after experiencing re-entry.  
  
All during class, Ranma couldn't help but notice that Ukyo didn't show up. Maybe she's sick. I'll stop by after school and see.   
  
Akane watched Ranma looking over at Ukyo's empty desk. BAKA! I know he would rather be with her or Shampoo. But he doesn't have to rub it in!   
  
Morning classes took longer than normal due to the fact the clocks were messed up. School officials could never agree what time it was due to the fact that 10 o'clock came and passed without the usual group of angry girls chasing after an old freak shouting "What a haul! What a haul!" After several hours of debate, and confirming it with seven atomic clocks, they concluded that the time was 1:15.  
  
Lunch went uneventful, except for the fact that every once in a while, a student would snicker at either Ranma or Akane. When asked what they were laughing about, the only response they would get is "Oh, nothing." Meanwhile, Nabiki is seen yelling at Ted saying that he broke the deal and would owe her ten times as much now.  
  
What was left of the afternoon classes was canceled when the Chem. Club blew out most of the third floor. Nobody seemed to mind. In fact, just about everybody was laughing after seeing Principal Kuno missing all of his hair after being caught in the blast. Even the stupid palm tree was gone.  
  
Ranma exited the building heading to Uuchan's to see if Ukyo was ok. As he passed by groups of students he kept hearing guys say "I never knew he cared, " and girls giggling saying "How sweet."  
  
Ranma just keeps walking on, ignoring all of them. I wander what's gotten into them. His thoughts were brought to a halt by a well know battle cry.  
  
"DIE RANMA!" Ryoga came jumping out of a nearby tree swinging his umbrella at Ranma.  
  
Ranma nimbly dodges Ryoga's attack. "Why are you mad this time P-chan? If anyone should be mad its me mad at you."  
  
Swinging wildly, ignoring Ranma's statements. "How dare you. You gave your word on your honor. But now I see that you have no honor."  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?"  
  
Destroying a nearby tree, "Not only have you told Akane my secrete, but you told everyone else and on the front page of the paper no less. That's low, even for you. I see that you're becoming more like you father every passing day."  
  
Ranma was getting tired of this. "I have never broke my word in my life! I am not like my old man!" Ranma's foot connected to Ryoga's jaw, sending the pig boy through a nearby wall.  
  
Ryoga picked himself up and dusted his clothes off. Off to the side, he heard a faint voice ask, "Ryoga, is it true?" Ryoga turned to see who asked the question, what he saw made his heart freeze. It was Akane holding a school paper with the look of disbelief on her face.  
  
Fear ran through him, causing every drop of blood to drain from his face. She knows. What am I suppose to do now? Without saying a word, Ryoga ran off and disappeared.  
  
Ranma quietly walked over to Akane and took the paper from her hands. She was too much into shock to protest. What Ranma saw even shocked him. There on the front page was a headline that read "Top Ten Signs to the End of the World." At the very bottom, it read: "And the number one sign that the world is ending, Akane Tendo finally realizes that her pig P-chan is the cursed form of Ryoga Hibiki."  
  
Ranma looked into Akane's as they began to gloss over with tears. "Ranma?" Her voice was a faint whisper, "I'll like to be alone for awhile." Akane took off running towards home. Ranma didn't bother chasing after her, this was one of the few times he knew it was better to keep his mouth shut.  
  
Nabiki slowly walked home, re-reading the front page of the paper.  
  
Top Ten Signs to the End of the World.  
  
#10. Akane Tendo and Ranma Satome drop their hate act and admit they love each other.  
  
#9. Kodachi Kuno is committed to an asylum for her insanity after realizing that Ranma wants nothing to do with her.  
  
#8. Principle Kuno gives up trying to give everyone a hair cut.  
  
#7. Upperclassman Kuno realizes the he has no chance in hell of ever beating Ranma Satome in a fight  
  
#6. The boys at Furinkan High realize that Akane Tendo wouldn't date them even if hell froze over. (By the way, the demons like to thank all of those boys for the air conditioners that have been donated.)  
  
#5. Shampoo can complete a sentence without referring to herself in the third person.  
  
#4. Shampoo realizes that no matter what the temperature is in hell, she has no chance of ever getting Ranma. (In Shampooies: Shampoo no get Ranma ever, fates are against it.)  
  
#3. Nabiki Tendo stops extorting everyone for every yen they're worth.  
  
#2. Upperclassman Kuno finally gets it through his thick skull that his pigtailed girl and Ranma Satome are one and the same. (To make it easier for Kuno to understand, the pigtailed girl is Ranma Satome's cursed form.)  
  
And the number one sign that the world is ending, Akane Tendo finally realizes that her pig P-chan is the cursed form of Ryoga Hibiki.  
  
That wasn't the file she wanted printed on the front page. The one she had written was a trumped up article about how Ryoga had this "mysterious secrete" that involved Jusenkyo in some way. She even hinted that Ranma may of known about it but was force to keep it secrete. Her intention was to get Akane to ask the right questions and find out on her own, hurting her as little as possible.  
  
But this article wasn't anything even close to what she typed up this morning. And Ted swore to her that there was only one disk in the inbox, and that was what was in the file on it. He claimed that he never even read it; he just threw it on the front page.  
  
That did explain a lot when she thought about it. Ted knew better than to print anything that contained her name in it. But who was the person that changed the file? Whoever it is, they severely put her business at risks by revealing things that she was making so much money off of to keep hidden.  
  
Nabiki really didn't care about keeping Ryoga's secrete anymore, after the fact that he wasn't paying her enough to make up for the damages he caused. It was the fact that it was a wakeup call to the Kunos, who refused to see the truth in front of their noses. Her main source of income was in jeopardy.  
  
She was pulled out of her thoughts as she saw Akane run past with tears in her eyes. Folding the paper backup, Nabiki continued walking home, calculating the lost income.  
  
Akane ran into the house and right up to her room. Kasumi noticed that Akane looked upset and went up to check on her. Knocking on Akane's door, "Akane, may I come in?" Hearing only silence, she slowly opened the door and stepped in. Akane was laying face down in her bed sobbing. "Akane, what's wrong. Did you and Ranma get into a fight again?"  
  
Akane looked up at her older sister. Though the tears, she saw her sister's smiling face. It made her feel a little better, not much, but a little. "He lied to me Kasumi. His whole friendship was a lie. I thought he was a nice guy with a kind heart, but it was a lie. He is nothing but a sick pervert."  
  
"What did Ranma do?"  
  
Akane just shakes her head. "No! It's not Ranma, its Ryoga. Kasumi, I found out that P-chan is really Ryoga."  
  
Kasumi's smile vanished, "Oh my! Did Ranma tell you?"  
  
Akane froze. "Why would Ranma tell me? Its not like he knew." The look on Kasumi's face told her otherwise. "Ranma knew? Ranma knew and didn't tell me?! THAT BAKA!" Pausing a moment to collect herself. "Kasumi, I'd like to be alone."  
  
Kasumi calmly walked out of the room and closed the door. Akane watch the door close. She knew too? Did everyone know but me? And if so, why didn't they tell me?   
  
Kasumi walked slowly down the stairs. As she reached the bottom step, she heard Genma shout "Nodoka!" followed by a loud thud. When she arrived to the dining room, all she could say is "Oh my!"  
  
Ranma slowly walked to Uuchan's, figuring that he'll kill time until Akane calmed down by checking on Ukyo. Alone the way, he could think nothing of what the list said. It seemed to be centered on his life, but then again a lot of weird things in Nerima seem to revolve around him.  
  
I wonder who's out to get me this time. Its definitely not anyone I know, just about all of them were slammed in the article. Maybe it was someone that I know that wasn't on it.   
  
Ranma pulls out the paper and looks at all the people that it lists. Lets see, I defiantly know it's not Akane because: A. She doesn't love me, and B. she had not clue until now that Ryoga is P-chan. Searches for another name, not any of the Kunos, and definitely not Nabiki. She would never put her name on something like this. Besides, she maybe a cold- hearted money-grubber, but she would never hurt Akane like this.   
  
Suddenly stops as a thought hits him. "That's it! The old man has something to do with it." Nah. Pops may have done some stupid things, but he would never do something to hurt Akane. Maybe it's someone from my past that I forgot about. Either that, or it's someone that pops or the old freak pissed off and got to take their revenge out on me.   
  
A ringing bell cut Ranma's thoughts short. "Oh no, not today." Smash! As soon as Ranma regain his senses, he realized he was trapped under Shampoo's bike. Why me? What did I do in my last life to deserve this? It's probably wasn't me, I bet pops or Happosai pissed off a goddess and got me the "get ran over by a Chinese Amazon riding a bike" curse.   
  
Shampoo jumps off her bike and pulls Ranma up. Shoving a copy of the paper in his face "Is no true! Ranma loves Shampoo! Ranma marry Shampoo!"  
  
Oh no, here it comes. How to get rid of her? "Hey, Shampoo. What's up?"  
  
"Tell Shampoo truth. Say Ranma love Shampoo. Tell Shampoo Ranma marry her."  
  
Defeat washed over Ranma's face. She asked for it. "I can't."  
  
Shampoo releases Ranma and drops to her knees, tears filling her eyes. "Why Ranma not want marry Shampoo?"  
  
I hate it when girls cry. But I don't have time right now. Leaping to the rooftop and taking off running, Ranma yells back "It just wouldn't work out because you turn into a cat."  
  
She watches Ranma ran away through her tear filled eyes. No Ranma. You no get off that easy. You bound to marry Shampoo by Amazon law. You marry Shampoo or die. A demented smirk crept over her face. Shampoo grabbed her bike and took off to the Nekohanten; she had much planning to do.  
  
After a quick stop at Uuchan's, only to see a Closed due to family emergency sign, he continued on his trek home. That's weird, Ucchan usually tells me that's she's leaving before she goes. Maybe she just didn't have time to. I'll ask he when she gets back.   
  
As Ranma approached the ladle lady's house, he slowed his pace. After spending much time looking around to make sure that she was nowhere in site, he started to walk past. Ha! She's not gonna get me this time Splash!! Looking down at her now dripping wet female form, Ranma looked off to the side and saw the old lady. How does she do it? It has to be some special technique. Hanging her head in defeat, she continued back to the dojo.  
  
The old lady just smiled at Ranma, and as mysteriously as she appeared, she vanished into thin air.  
  
Akane sat in her room, replaying the day's events in her mind. The weird paper telling that Ryoga was P-chan, followed by Ryoga showing up blaming Ranma for letting his secrete out. "Ranma knew, and he didn't tell me. BAKA!!"  
  
"Maybe if you listened better sis, you would have realized that he has been trying to tell you." Akane startled, looked over at the open door with Nabiki standing inside the doorway.  
  
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN ABOUT THAT!"  
  
Nabiki steps inside the room, closing the door behind her. What she had to say should not be interrupted by anyone. "Akane, haven't you noticed that Ranma kept calling P-chan Ryoga and Ryoga P-chan? Have you ever notice how Ryoga and P-chan don't like water? Come on Akane, with all the Jusenkyo curses that are around Ranma, one would figure you'd put two and two together." Crossing he arms and leaning against the door, "You're always calling Ranma a idiot, well you seem to just as big of one."  
  
WHAT! I'm an idiot? How dare she. Then the various events replayed in her mind. All the times that Ranma was picking on P-chan calling him Ryoga, and calling Ryoga P-chan. Akane felt some of her anger begin to slip away. He was trying to tell me. "Why did he just tell me? Why did he only drop hints?"  
  
Nabiki's poker face was replaced with a frown. "What I am going to tell you here does not leave this room. You can never let Ranma know that you've been told this or it'll betray his trust that he has placed in Kasumi and me."  
  
Receiving a nod from Akane, she continued. "Ranma was forced to keep it a secrete by his honor. In fact, all of us were forced. Ryoga forced Mr. Satome and Ranma; Ranma forced Kasumi and me. I wanted to tell you, hell, Kasumi wanted to tell you. But if we did, we would betray Ranma's trust."  
  
Disbelieving what she was hearing, "Why would Ranma tell you?"  
  
Sliding down the door to sit on the floor. This is going to take a while. Might as well get comfortable. "Akane, he wanted to tell you but he couldn't. So he did the next best thing, he told your sisters." Noticing the anger boil in her eyes, "Akane, its not like we sat by and did nothing. Every time you and Ranma would get into a fight over P-chan and you knocked him into the koi pond, did you ever notice that whenever Kasumi came out with the hot water to change Ranma back that he was always close enough to you that some of it would get on you? She was hoping that some would get on P-chan and make him change. I just decided to make Ryoga's life miserable by charging him outrages fees to keep his secrete. I was hoping he would get tired of it and either tell you or never show up as P- chan again."  
  
"Didn't dad know? Couldn't he do anything?"  
  
Why did you have to ask the hard question? "Dad knew, BUT before you get mad, there was nothing that he could do." Putting a finger to her chin thinking, "How did he put it? Oh yeah. 'Even though Ryoga is tarnishing Akane's honor by being dishonorable, it is no longer my place to defend it. That duty is Ranma's, and his alone.'"  
  
Akane couldn't believe what she has heard. Her father wouldn't defend her honor; instead he gave that job to Ranma. "How could he?! How could he have let that PERVERT defend my honor?! Especially after all those times he snuck into my room at night!"  
  
Nabiki had enough. She stood up and before Akane could react, she closed the gap, screamed "AKANE NO BAKA!!" and slapped her sister.  
  
Akane was shocked. Nabiki has never hit her before. She gently placed her hand to her cheek, still feeling the sting from the slap. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT FOR?"  
  
Nabiki had her poker face back, but there was no mistaking the anger in her voice. "You find out that P-chan and Ryoga are the same, even after ignoring all of Ranma's clues. I tell you why everyone knew, and why dad especially couldn't tell you. And yet you still can't add sis. All those times Ranma came into your room, it wasn't to be a pervert, it was to get Ryoga out and save your honor. In fact, I don't think he knows how to even be a pervert, let alone be one. No sis, if anyone is a pervert here, it's you. You chose to ignore everything, let Ryoga sleep with you. And on top of that, you knew that it made Ranma mad and you enjoyed doing it." Turning to leave, "You don't deserve Ranma, in fact, you and Ryoga make a better pair. You both like blaming Ranma for things that happen that are nothing but your own fault. And then, you jump to conclusions and make accusations against Ranma without opening your eyes and getting all the facts. I'm still surprised that Ranma hasn't said 'to hell with it' and left yet. I'm sure none of us would blame him if he did." She quietly exited the room, leaving her sister sobbing on her bed.  
  
"That was a little harsh, wasn't Nabiki?"  
  
Nabiki didn't have to turn around to know it was Kasumi behind her. "I had to. It was time that she realized what the truth was. Why aren't you making dinner?"  
  
"Auntie Satome showed up, she knows about the curses. She has father and Uncle Satome tied up and gagged and asked me to stay up her until Ranma came home. Could you order dinner while I go and talk to Akane?"  
  
"Sure." Nabiki heads to her room to make the call. Good luck Ranma, you're going to need it.   
  
Ranma finally reached the dojo after a long fight with Moose over how he "insulted Shampoo." Geez! When will he get it in his head that I DON'T LIKE Shampoo? In fact, I want him to have her. That way, she'll stop bothering me. How much worse could this day get?   
  
With a leap, Ranma jumped over the wall and ran along the side of the house to come in through the dinning room doors. Kasumi would be waiting there, like everyday, with hot water to change her back. I can't wait to be a guy again.   
  
As soon as she stepped into the dinning room, what she saw caused her to stop in mid-step. In the far corner, was his dad in panda form and Mr. Tendo. Both of them were tied up and gagged. Ranma walked up to Genma and looked down at him with a smirk on her face. "Ok pops, what did you do this time. No wait, let me guess. Back on our training trip you stole some food, got caught, and promise that I'll marry another girl. JUST HOW MANY FIANCEES HOW I HAVE CUZ OF YOU OLD MAN!"  
  
Ranma heard someone come up behind her and pour hot water on her. He turns to face the person, assuming it was Kasumi. "Thanks Kasum..." What he saw caused him to turn pale with fear.  
  
"You're welcome Ranko, or should I say RANMA." Nodoka's face didn't show a hint of emotion.  
  
"M..m..mom?" was all Ranma could stutter. Oh man, I'm dead. I'm so DEAD. Thanks a lot pop. You're stupid training trip has finally gotten me killed.   
  
Nodoka just looked down at her son. "I hope you're not as stupid as your father and are going to try and weasel out of telling me truth. If so, the Satome line ends tonight." 


	5. 

Chapter 4  
  
Inside a great hall; the walls made of dull lava rock, pillars made of diamonds that extend from the polished obsidian floor to the bright glowing pearl ceiling, a cloaked figure appears inside the fog filled room. He pulls down the gray hood of his cloak, showing features similar to Ranma in his male form. But instead of the normal blue eyes and black hair that Ranma has, he has light gray eyes and bright chrome hair.  
  
"Nul, you're back!" cried a voice from the fog. Another cloaked figure comes running out fog and hugs Nul. She looks exactly like Akane Tendo, except that she has the same hair and eyes as Nul. "How did the mission go?"  
  
"Everything has been set into motion. Though, it doesn't seem to be going exactly how I wanted it to. Why did the fates have to add the chaos factor to him?"  
  
She just looks at him and smile. "Well, he does have a spark of energy from you. And we all know how you hate being bored. So, the fates decided to make his life interesting so that he doesn't get bored."  
  
"You know Void, I just realize what trait of yours she got from your spark."  
  
Void takes a step back. "Oh, what's that?"  
  
Nul gives her a chasseur cat grin, "Your cooking."  
  
She gives him a weak punch in the shoulder. "Fuunnnnyyyy. Aren't we? Come we must hurry. The fates say that the seal is running out of power and we need to recharge it."  
  
"How much time do we have before the seal complete fails?"  
  
She looks down at her feet. "The fates say a year, maybe two. Then he'll be free once again."  
  
"Then we must hurry and prepare them. We have no more time to waste." 


	6. 

Chapter 5  
  
Tatewaki Kuno sits in his room facing the wall size pictures of Akane and girl-type Ranma. In his hands, is the school paper. "Why does thy foul demon Satome print such lies in such a respectable school paper? Does that sorcerer believe that I, Tatewaki Kuno, would fall for his evil trickery? He will feel the wrath of the Blue Thunder tonight."  
  
Just then, Kodachi walks in. "Ohohohoho! What do we have here?" She snatches the paper from her brother's hands; her smile quickly disappears and is replaced with anger. "Who wrote this? I bet it was that Tendo peasant to try to keep me away from Ranma-samma. Not only does the wrench claim that I'm insane, but she dares say that Ranma does not like me! She shall pay for such lies."  
  
Kuno snatches the paper back, "I will not let you, sister, bring harm to the fair Akane Tendo."  
  
"Ohohohoho! Brother, I wouldn't dream of harming her." Only killing her.   
  
Ryoga Hibiki sat by an open campfire in the middle of the woods. Ryoga, of course, assumes that he is in the woods outside of Nerima. Little does he know, that he is actually in the woods outside of Jusenkyo. How did he get here? Come on, this is Ryoga here. He is the only being on Earth that could walk through a closet door in the Tendo dojo and end up in the oval office. Governments have tried to study blood samples to see how he does it, but the samples even end up being lost.  
  
"Ranma!!! How could you? You swore that you wouldn't tell Akane my secrete. But in the end, you not only told her my secrete, you told the world. I swear, that I will not rest until the world sees you for the honor less bastard that you are." Laughing to himself, "And when I finally kill you with my two bare hands, Akane will finally be mine. And the world will spit on your grave."  
  
After quickly putting out the campfire, Ryoga takes off running to give Ranma his "punishment." Little does he know, that is he ran in the other direction, he would of fell right into Nanniichuan. But, then again, this is Ryoga.  
  
Shampoo no believe Ranma no love me. Violent Pervert Girl must of hit Ranma too many times on head. Shampoo kill Akane, then Ranma love Shampoo.   
  
"Shampoo!" yelled Cologne. Sometimes Shampoo can be a real airhead.   
  
"Yes great grandmother."  
  
Cologne throws several boxes of ramen at Shampoo, which she easily catches. "Take this order of ramen to the Tendos."  
  
"Aiya! Shampoo take to Ranma right away!" While there, Shampoo kill kitchen destroyer. Shampoo runs out the door, before anyone can say another word.  
  
Cologne watches Shampoo leave, shaking her head. "Moose, follow her and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid."  
  
Without saying a word, Moose bolts out of the Nekohanten after Shampoo. Finally Ranma, I will kill you tonight and then Shampoo will be mine.   
  
Author's Note: This many people heading to the dojo on a vendetta against either Ranma or Akane is a dangerous mix. To tell the truth, it's an insurance company's nightmare. Please note, that as the citizens on Nerima see all the people head for the Tendo dojo and immediately check their insurance policies before heading to their bomb shelter. Outside the city limits, the National Guard prepares to do cleanup duty again after Nerima has been declared another natural disaster.  
  
Only in Nerima, does property values drop 99% whenever someone screams "DIE RANMA!" or "RANMA NO BAKA!" But on the bright side, if you're a construction worker in Nerima, then you have tons of job security. No wonder Nabiki owns 3 of the 7 construction firms in town and the Kunos own the other 4.  
  
Akane sat in the dojo, breathing heavily after an intense workout. Just as she thought that things around her house have got weird today, things got worse. Coming out of her room to head to the dojo, she was stopped by Kasumi who informed her that the dinning room was off limits. Looking behind he older sister, she noticed that the inside doors that were never closed, were. Even the outside doors were closed, with only whispers coming from behind them.  
  
I wonder what's going on. Neither Kasumi nor Nabiki will tell me, but they seem to know something. I bet it has something to do with Ranma. They're probably all making fun of me for not knowing that Ryoga is P-chan.   
  
Just then, the outside door opened just enough to let Ranma out. As soon as Ranma is out side, he quickly closes the door and leaps to the roof. The look of death is on Ranma's face. Akane stands up and heads to go get the ladder to join him on the roof.  
  
Ranma sat on the roof staring off into space. In his mind, he replayed the discussion with his mother. Ranma was jolted out of his thoughts when he heard light footsteps behind him. Must be Akane.   
  
"Ranma?"  
  
Ranma didn't even look back at her. He just patted the spot next to him, offering Akane a seat. As soon as Akane sat down, "My mom is here. She found out about the curse." Ranma's voice sounded as if he has been defeated.  
  
"H..how did she find out?" Fear managed to creep into her voice.  
  
"Someone sent her a book about Jusenkyo with mine and pops curses highlighted. They also had a note on the book that said, 'This is the reason you haven't seen your husband and son.'" He looked over at Akane, his eyes no longer shining with life. "She caught me and pop and poured water on us to prove it."  
  
Gasping, "She's not going to make you commit seppiku, is she?"  
  
Looking down at the ground, "I don't know. She made me tell her about my life up to today, and she said she'd talk to you, your dad, and your sisters before she decides. She already said that she won't listen to pop."  
  
She felt her heart ache to want to comfort him. "Ranma..I.."  
  
Akane was quickly interrupted when Ranma grabbed her and jumped to the side. She was going to yell at Ranma when she saw Shampoo standing where they were.  
  
"Niaho Ranma. Shampoo bring tasty ramen or Airen."  
  
Ranma doesn't even look at Shampoo. "How hard is it to get in your head that I don't want to marry you? I'll never marry you!"  
  
"Shampoo and Ranma already married. Is Amazon law." Shampoo then looks over at Akane. "If Ranma no come back with Shampoo, Shampoo kill pervert girl."  
  
Before anyone could respond to that, from Ranma's other 3 sides came Kuno, Moose, and Ryoga. All of the shouting "DIE RANMA!!" (Just then, real estate values in Nerima dropped into the negatives.)  
  
Ranma dodges their attacks. "What did I do now?"  
  
"You broke your word of honor and told Akane my secrete." Shouted Ryoga as he swung his umbrella at Ranma's head.  
  
"Thy foul demon has printed lies about the fair Akane Tendo and the Pigtail Girl." Cried Kuno as he swung his bokken at Ranma's midsection.  
  
"You have insulted Shampoo." Announced Moose as he tried to entangle Ranma in his chains.  
  
As the boys fight, Shampoo sees this as her opportunity. "Shampoo kill Akane, then Ranma marry Shampoo."  
  
Akane gets into her battle stance. "You're welcome to try, you chinese bimbo!" As Akane leaps to attack, she is ensnared by a ribbon and pulled back down to her feet.  
  
"Ohohohohohoho!! Not so fast you miserable peasant. Tonight I will free my precious Ranma-sama from your vile clutches."  
  
Shampoo gets a murderous smirk on her face. "For once, Shampoo and crazy girl agree. Akane die." Shampoo runs towards Akane, ready to bash in Akane's head with her bonbori.  
  
At the last second, Akane dropped to a knee and did a leg sweep causing Shampoo to miss her target entirely and go crashing through the roof. Akane then used the ribbon to throw Kodachi forward onto her back.  
  
The next thing Akane knew, she was in Ranma's arms being carried away from the scene. "RANMA! What are you doing?"  
  
Roof hopping, "Akane, if they're going to fight us then we need more room. Besides, I think Nabiki is tired of having to fix the place."  
  
Nodoka came outside just in time to see Ranma and Akane hoping from rooftop to rooftop, being pursued by five figures shouting "RANMA!!", "Shampoo kill Akane!", and "Ohohohohoho!"  
  
Nodoka turns to face her panda husband. "Why do I have the feeling that some of this is your fault, husband?"  
  
Genma quickly pulls out a sign, (Who me? I'm just an innocent panda here.)  
  
"I hope so, for your sake. Anyways, we should go and make sure none of them get hurt."  
  
"Why's that?" asked Soun.  
  
After receiving a dirty look from Nodoka, Genma quickly held up another sign. (Come Tendo, I know you don't have enough of a death wish to disobey her.)  
  
"You're right Satome." Responded Soun.  
  
As the three left, Kasumi was already on the phone warning Dr. Tofu about the incoming patients he'll be having while Nabiki was estimating how much it'll cost to repair the damage.  
  
Ranma touched down in the street in front of Furinkan High. He was a good two-minute ahead of the rest, and had time to find a safe spot of Akane. "Akane, make a run for the school. I'll hold them off."  
  
"RANMA! I'm a martial artist too." How dare he say I can't fight!   
  
"Akane, they're really out to kill us. You might be able to handle Kodachi but you know you can't beat Shampoo even on your best day, and you definitely can't beat them when they're working together."  
  
Before Akane could respond, a flying bandanna flew in between Ranma and Akane. "RANMA! You are truly scum! How DARE you break your word of honor! You promised to keep my curse secrete from Akane! DIE YOU DISHONORABLE BASTARD!"  
  
"Look who's calling who dishonorable, P-CHAN!!" shouted Akane.  
  
Ryoga stopped in mid-step. I'm dishonorable? I'm dishonorable? How could that be? Ranma was the one who broke his word. Ranma was the one that ran from fights. Ranma was the one that always cheated to win.   
  
As Ryoga stood frozen as a statue, Akane and Ranma jumped out of the way of chains and ribbons. Moose and Kuno went back to trying to punish Ranma, and Shampoo and Kodachi went back to trying to kill Akane.  
  
The fight continued for several minutes, during the whole time nobody notice the aura of depression form around Ryoga. In his mind, scenes were played out where he saw Akane reject him, then Ranma and Akane laughing at him. He saw his target. He saw who must die. With one cry, he let loose his power.  
  
"SHISHI HOUKODAN!!!!!!" Ryoga let loose his chi blast at Ranma. He never saw that Akane was directly in the path. And he definitely never saw Akane hit the wall next to Ranma and then fall lifeless to the ground.  
  
Shampoo and Kodachi stopped and stared at Ryoga. "Pig boy finally do something right!" Exclaim Shampoo in sheer joy. Kodachi just stood in amazement at Ryoga. Neither Kuno nor Moose could move after what they witnessed. Ranma fell to his knees and screamed "AKANE!!"  
  
A smirk formed on Ryoga's face. He was still blinded by his hate and depression and had no clue what truly happened. Yes Ranma, scream her name as you die. For when you are gone, she'll be mine.   
  
Ranma reached over to find a pulse. None was found. He pulled Akane into his arms, holding her tight to him hoping that somehow it wasn't true.  
  
Nodoka and the fathers were still four blocks away when they heard the blood-curdling scream. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Shortly afterwards, it was followed by a blinding flash of light and a shock wave that sent them flying backwards a block. 


	7. 

Chapter 6  
  
Ukyo sat in her room all day thinking about the dream she just had. Or, what she thought was a dream. It seemed so real to her, the sights, the smells, and the sounds. When she awoke, the robe from the figure in her dreams was setting in a chair in the corner.  
  
Several times, she thought that maybe it was a dream caused by that chinese bimbo and the old ghoul. But that just didn't seem to be their style. They always attacked Akane with their magic, and never left evidence. Maybe it was Kodachi. But that thought was quickly thrown out the door. Where was the insanity? Where was the poison? And most of all, where was the gymnastic equipment. Nope, not Kodachi. Besides, she always attacked Akane.   
  
Maybe it's another fiancÃ©e. THAT'S IT!! It has to be another. No, that's not it. They would of gone after Ranma. Unless they see me as their biggest competition. "Oh Ranchan, why can't anything be easy with you."  
  
Ukyo was brought out of her thoughts when she heard a knock on the back door. "I almost forgot my delivery. Coming!" She ran to the door and opened it, revealing a normal looking man in blue coveralls.  
  
Handing her a clipboard, "If you would just sign here, we can bring in your produce."  
  
Signing the form, Ukyo handed the clipboard back. The man looked over the form carefully, then pulled off a pink carbon copy of the form and handed it to Ukyo. The then signaled the man behind him who brought in a dolly full of creates. After setting the creates inside the doorway, he took the dolly and left. The first man smiled and said "Have a nice day. See you next week." and closed the door.  
  
Ukyo opened the door to the walk-in fridge and started placing the creates inside. Alone again. I'm always alone, aren't I? Even when Ranchan is here, it seems I'm alone. He's always taking about his problems with Akane, but he never wants to talk about us. Its as if he doesn't see me as a fiancÃ©e.   
  
Placing the last create into the fridge, she closed the door and leaned her head against it. "That's it! Ranchan never saw me as a fiancÃ©e. All he saw me as was Ucchan, his best friend. Why can't he see that I love him?" Pulling herself up, "Maybe a nice hot bath will make me feel better."  
  
A half hour latter, Ukyo emerged from the bathroom still feeling as depressed as before. Plopping down on her bed, she flipped on the TV to distract her. Every channel was the same thing, a newscast stating on how time has come to a standstill in Nerima.  
  
"Local officials are unable to give the public an accurate reading of the time. One official has stated 'Where is the old pervert? He has kept the time accurate of the past 2 decades with his panty raids.' Officials are now checking with seven atomic clocks, but none can agree on which one is the correct time."  
  
Ukyo stared at the TV in amazement. What the heck is going on? Don't tell me that they're looking for who I think they are?   
  
A picture of Happosai appeared on the screen. "If you see this person, please call the authorities. There is a? This can't be right. There is a five hundred panty reward for him returning." The camera is knocked over and the picture goes to static. Just before the sound cut out, a familiar voice was heard saying "SWEETO!!!!"  
  
Ukyo just shakes her head in disbelief as she turns off the TV. "Man, the weird things that happen in this town. I'm surprised that anyone would look for that old freak." She looked over at her clock and noticed that it was 12:15. Guess I should go down and fix some lunch.   
  
After a brief lunch, she found herself watching TV again. Nothing interesting was on except Divorce Court. After watching several cases go by, most of them were people who were friends that thought they should get married, Ukyo couldn't help but wonder if her and Ranma wouldn't end up there if they got married.  
  
Nah. Ranchan was always one to keep a promise, even if he didn't make it. If he said we would be married till death, then that's what he'll do. Even if he hated it. That's one of the reasons he as a fiancÃ©e problem. "Genma, you jackass. Why did you have to go mess up Ranchan's life? If he was already promised to Akane, then why did you promise him to me?" Sighing, "Maybe I should have killed his idiot father when I had a chance."  
  
But the little voice in the back of her head wouldn't let that comment get by. "Really girl, do you think Ranchan would want anything to do with you if you killed his old man? Besides, the damage is already done. Killing the baka will get you nothing."  
  
True, but I would feel better. Smiling to herself, she went back to channel flipping until she ran into the Jerry Springer show (subtitled). The show's topic, 'I am a transsexual with multiple fiancÃ©es. I only want one of them, but the others won't leave me alone. (Ironic, isn't it?)  
  
If I didn't know better, I'd think that this was rigged for me to see. The main guest was Ron, a somewhat handsome guy in his early twenties. His story was that his father made an arranged marriage at birth with his close friend, but latter his father engaged him to another girl that was his best friend. Yeap, definitely sounds rigged. He then went on to say that two others decided that he was their fiancÃ©e. And to add to the mix, nobody would listen to him, and his father kept pressuring him to marry his fiancÃ©e from birth. Why does this sound like Ranma?   
  
The fiancÃ©es came in and all claimed that Ron was theirs, even though Ron stated that the fiancÃ©e he had from birth is the one that he loves. Fights broke out when the men that thought Ron was a jerk for having four fiancÃ©es showed up.  
  
Once the guests where calmed down and strapped to their chairs, Jerry went to the audience for questions. An elderly man was chosen for the first question. "Yes, my question is for the second fiancÃ©e arranged by his father. What makes you think that your claim is the valid one since he was promised to another first and he loves her?"  
  
The second fiancÃ©e gave him a look that could kill. "First of all, I love him. Second, his father stole the dowry, causing me to be disowned by my family. And finally, I'm the best fiancÃ©e! I'm the cutest, the best cook, and his best friend. That, and I've known him the longest."  
  
The crowd booed and hissed at her answer. I thought it was a good answer. A teenage girl stood up and asked the same fiancÃ©e another question. "If you love him, then why?" Ukyo perked up hearing this, Yes! Tell them how he is your one true love; make them see that he is yours. "Well, I am his best friend. Why shouldn't we get married?"  
  
Jerry shook his head after hearing this, "Best friends doesn't always mean that they'll make the best spouses. And as for your dowry being stolen by his father, I see that it's a problem you have with his father not him. All of you know that he has made his choice, but you all choose to be ignorant and demand that you're the best one. All your petty bickering is doing is driving him further away. And you guys that say he is stringing these girls along. Maybe you're right. But have you ever looked as to why? He may not want to hurt them. I mean, look at him! He spent the majority of his life with almost no real human contact except his father, which you all agree is incompetent as a parent. Even if you ignore that, he has made his choice and has tried to tell the other women so, but they just refuse to listen. Just like you refuse to give her up to him even though she loves him."  
  
Ukyo turned off the TV as the crowd began chanting 'JERRY! JERRY!' Is it true, did Ranma try several times to tell us that he has chosen Akane and we just didn't want to listen? Ukyo cried herself asleep.  
  
"And.... Cut!" shouted the director. Jerry Springer thanked everyone for another great performance and headed back to his dressing room. Opening the door, he sees a person in a gray cloak sitting in a chair, facing away from him.  
  
Stepping into the dressing room and quickly closing and locking the door, "Ok Nul, I did as you asked. Now, are you going to tell me what this is all about?"  
  
Nul spun around in the chair to face Jerry. "Trust me, either way you knowing has no consequences on the outcome. Either we will live or be destroyed. You can do nothing about it."  
  
Anger washed over Jerry's face. "You used my show for your agenda, and you won't tell me why? I DEMAND TO KNOW!"  
  
Nul jumped to his feet, eyes glowing; "You have no right to demand anything! All I have to do is say one word and your show is canceled. So, shut up and just do as I say. No questions asked." Waving his hand, Nul vanished before Jerry.  
  
Ukyo woke up just in time to hear Ranma blood-curling scream "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" and to see her room light up with a blinding flash of light. After the room stopped shaking, she realized something was seriously wrong.  
  
Grabbing her battle spatchla, she ran out of her restaurant heading towards the source of the light and scream. "Hold on Ranchan. I'm coming!!!" 


	8. 

Chapter 7  
  
Nodoka, Soun, and Genma arrive at a massive creator that extends two blocks from what use to be Furinkan High's front gates. Everything in the area was gone, even the school. Scattered all around the edges of the creator is the unconscious bodies of Ryoga, Shampoo, Moose, and the Kunos. In the center of the creator is a large glowing ball of blue-white light that cast an eerie glow on the aftermath.  
  
Soun stood in disbelief. "My GOD Satome! What on earth could have done this?"  
  
Out of nowhere Happosai appeared behind them. "This was Ranma's doing."  
  
Nodoka turned to face the old freak. "Ranma did all of this?"  
  
Genma holds up a sign, "But how can this be Master?"  
  
Happosai shakes his head. "Somehow, during the fight, Akane was killed. This sent Ranma into a state that amplified his power by ten. We were lucky that it wasn't the full Rage trance, or else all of Tokyo would be a creator."  
  
"Akane..." was all Soun could get out through his whimpering.  
  
Tears form in Nodoka's eyes. "Does that mean Ranma's dead too?"  
  
Happosai looks at the ball of light. "No, my dear, Ranma is in there with Akane. Right now, he is trying to give her some of his life force to bring her back." He turns back to the group. "Before any of you think about going over there, DON'T! Right now Ranma is in a dangerous situation, and if anyone gets near and disrupts it, both he and Akane will die." He points over to the group of fallen martial artists. "If you really want to help, get these fools out of here before they do something else. I'll wait here for Cologne. As soon as those fools are taken care of, send Tofu and Kasumi here. If Ranma and Akane survive this, those two are the only ones who can touch them."  
  
Akane found herself standing in a blue-white void. The only sound she can hear is a heartbeat and breathing. Where am I? "Ranma! Where are you?"  
  
"He is trying to save you." responded her voice from behind.  
  
Akane spins around to see an almost mirror image of herself. But this Akane had chrome hair and light gray eyes, wearing a gray robe. "Who are you?"  
  
"My name is Void," gives Akane a small bow, "and right now my dear, you're dead."  
  
"How can that be? I can hear my breathing and heart beat. I'm not dead!" A single tear rolls down her cheek, "How can I be dead? Ranma always protects me."  
  
"I'm sorry Akane, but you are technically dead. The heart beat and breathing you hear is Ranma's. But there is still hope of you being revived, but you must listen carefully." Receiving a nod, she continued. "I'll start from the beginning. As I have said, I am Void or I guess I should say a spark of Void's energy. I've been a part of your energy since you were born. The only reason you are seeing me is because somehow you have swerved off the path of your destiny."  
  
"Where are we?"  
  
"We are still in your body." She points the void, "That is Ranma's life energy. It is keeping your soul," points at Akane, "in your body. It is also trying to recharge your life energy. But, if you do not listen to me, not only you will be dead, but Ranma as well. Doing what he is doing is very dangerous, and if it fails, very deadly."  
  
Akane stares at Void, "Ranma's doing this for me. Why?"  
  
Void shakes her head, disbelieving what she is hearing. "You know, your sister is right. You are a baka."  
  
Anger washes over Akane, she grits her teeth and clinches her fists. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"  
  
"Calm down. You're letting your anger control you again." Seeing that had no effect, Void backhanded Akane causing her to fall backwards and land on her butt. "Now, as for why Ranma is risking his own life to bring you back. You can't honestly say that you don't know he has feelings for you?" Void pauses a moment to hear Akane's remarks. Getting none, she continued. "That's what I thought. Now, I need you to be honest, what are your feelings to him? Do you love him?"  
  
"Me, love that pervert? You GOT to be kidding."  
  
"Listen, now is not the time to pretend to not care. Your so-called pervert is risking his life, his very soul to save you! To me, that says that he does care. Now the question is, do you care?"  
  
Akane couldn't keep from blushing. Unwilling to look Void in the eyes, her voice was barely more that a whisper. "Yes."  
  
"Good. Now its time to face your demons. Only then, will you be able to help Ranma and yourself." Waving her hand, a door appears in front of Void. Void pushes the door open revealing only darkness inside. Holding her hand out towards Akane, "Come Akane, we don't have much time and there is so much to do."  
  
Taking Void's hand, Akane steps through the door with Void. The door closes silently behind them, leaving them in darkness.  
  
Happosai stood watch over the energy ball that contained Ranma and Akane. Things were definitely not going according to the plan. He watched as Genma and Soun help carry the last two of the foolish martial artists back to the dojo to be treated for their injuries. They're lucky that Ranma's rage attack didn't kill them. Really, what chance did they actually think they have against him when both Cologne and myself are having more and more trouble defeating him? Only thing they are to him anymore is a good warm- up, no real challenge. If the boy would only trained Akane, then none of this would of happened.   
  
Cologne hopped next to Happy. "I've taken care of the National Guard and the emergency personnel. It'll take them an hour to get here, maybe two. Any change Happy?"  
  
Closing his eyes and puffing on his pipe, "No. And unless something changes soon, we'll loose them both."  
  
"At least Ranma has his curse. With two souls and two pools of chi, he can last a little longer than a normal would."  
  
Happosai shakes his head, "The curse won't help very much. The second soul is shadow of what it use to be, and the chi isn't near what Ranma's is. But either way, by the time the our time is up and the officials get here, either Ranma would have succeeded and have saved her and we'll be gone, or they'll find their lifeless corpses here."  
  
"I'm amazed in how little faith you have in my chosen ones." replied Nul, appearing from nowhere. "They will make it, the Fates have guaranteed that."  
  
Ukyo ran for all that she is worth. She never felt herself move so fast, but then she never had any reason to till now. Ranma's in trouble. I just know it.   
  
When she approached the edge of the creator, she skidded to a stop. The destruction was horrific. Buildings, lampposts, even the road, gone. Not one bit of debris. Its as if a giant scoop came down and took it all. Even Furinkan High, was gone. Ukyo's face turned ghostly pale from seeing the destruction. "Who, or what did this?" she quietly whispered to herself.  
  
A flicker of light in the center of the devastation caught her attention. It was a large glowing blue-white ball of light. In front of it, was Happosai and Cologne. They were just standing there, talking quietly amongst themselves, looking at the ball. Then, out of thin air appeared a third figure and neither Cologne nor Happosai seemed to be surprised about his appearance.  
  
I know that guy from somewhere, but where? Searching her memory for an answer. Where did she see a guy wearing a gray cloak, and had chrome hair in a pigtail? My dream! That guy is from my dream! But what did he have to do with this?"   
  
But before Ukyo could move any closer, the mysterious person vanished in a bright flash of light leaving Happosai and Cologne watching over the energy ball. She settles back into her original hiding place and observes the two mummies. I don't know what is going on here, but I'm not leaving until I get answers.   
  
Ranma found himself standing in a blue-white void. What happened? Where am I? Where is Akane? Then he remembered. Akane's limp and lifeless body in his arms. He remembered checking for a pulse and finding none. All his blood seemed to of vanish as he turned pale white. The fire that existed in his eyes vanished. And for a brief moment, he could have sworn that his heart had stopped beating when he realized what had happened. Akane was dead.  
  
Ranma fell to his knees, "No! All of my training, all of my skills, and I couldn't save her. I failed her. I FAILED HER!"  
  
Nul appeared behind Ranma unnoticed. Even if he were noticed, Ranma wouldn't care. Nul gently places a hand on Ranma's shoulder. "Ranma, there is still a chance to save her. But you must listen to me and do as I say."  
  
Ranma's head perked up, color returned to his skin, and some of the fire has returned to his eyes. A chance to save her! A chance to save Akane! Turning his head to see Nul, "Mister, I don't know who you are but if you can help me save Akane then I'm all ears."  
  
Nul grinned at Ranma, "I've always liked your priorities. Make sure Akane is safe and worry about the rest latter. There is much you need to know, but time is limited. So, I guess I'll have to tell you along the way." Nul waves his hand and a door appears before them. The door opens silently, revealing darkness inside. "Come Ranma. To save Akane, the first thing you must do is face your demons." Nul removes his hand from Ranma's shoulder and walks though the door.  
  
Ranma stands up and looks into the forbidding darkness inside the door. "If it'll save Akane, I'll get through hell and back." Stepping through the door, Hold on Akane! I'm coming! The door silently closes behind him.  
  
Akane stood next to Void in the darkness, and the area lit up around them, it appeared that they were in a hospital hallway. Doctors and nurses passed right by them as if they didn't exist.  
  
Akane looked over at Void, with a bewildered look on her face. "Where are we?"  
  
"We are here to face the first of your demons."  
  
"Alright, bring them. I'll beat them."  
  
Void places her hand on Akane's shoulder, "Martial Arts cannot always win every fight. And not all demons can be beat. Some have to faced, and accepted. Come, its time." Void pulls Akane through a door as if they were ghosts. Inside the hospital room, is a woman in a bed surrounded by three little girls and a younger version of Soun Tendo without his mustache.  
  
Akane looks over at Void, anger filling her eyes. "Why did you bring me here? I thought I was suppose to face a demon, not a memory!"  
  
Void doesn't look at Akane, she just continues looking at the scene before her. "True, this is a memory. But it is also one of your greatest demons. Just watch. What you do not get, I will explain latter."  
  
If looks could kill, then Akane's would vaporize Void. "FINE! But if you're doing this for nothing then I'll tie you up and give you to Kuno."  
  
Before them, the woman who was Akane's mother stirred. Soun leaned forward to hear what she was saying. "Soun?"  
  
"Yes dear."  
  
Lifting her hand to her husband's cheek. "I am growing too weak to fight anymore. Please, promise you will look after our daughters when I'm gone."  
  
Placing his wife's hand between his, "Shhh? Please don't talk that way. You'll pull through."  
  
Little Akane tugged on her mother's other hand. "Mamma, you rest. I'll fight for you!"  
  
Akane's mother slowly turned her head to see her youngest daughter, giving a weak smile that seems to take all of her strength. "Dear sweet Akane. I'm afraid that this is a fight you can't help me with. Even if you could help, death would still win. In the end, death always wins. Be strong for me little one."  
  
Little Kasumi took a step closer. "Mother, please don't go."  
  
"Kasumi, I'm afraid I can't help it. But I've taught you all that you need to know, all you need is practice. Promise that you will look after your father and your sisters. Teach them what I couldn't."  
  
Tears begin streaming down Kasumi's cheeks. "Yes mother. I promise."  
  
"Nabiki, you have a keen mind. You see opportunities that others ignore. And you always can turn a bad situation to your benefit. I hope that you will use your gifts to help people." Their mother's breaths was now coming in short gasps.  
  
Soun kisses his wife's hand. "Dear, please rest."  
  
Her glaze moves to her husband. "I'll have plenty of time to rest later. Please, all of you live out happy lives. Husband, allow yourself to love again and marry. I'll want to hear all about your lives when you join me." Releasing one last raspy breath, she slipped into a deep eternal sleep. The darkness soon envelopes them leaving Akane and Void alone.  
  
Akane looks over at void, "What was the point of that. I already know what happened."  
  
Void turns to face Akane, "Yes, but do you remember your thoughts? Do you remember what you were thinking at that time?"  
  
Akane lowers her head. "No."  
  
"I'm not surprised. Most can easily remember events, but few remember what they were thinking during them. Your thoughts at the time are what laid the seed for your demon."  
  
"And what just might those be?"  
  
Void waves her hand; a younger Akane's voice comes from the darkness. "No mamma, don't give up. Let me fight for you! I'll fight death. I'll train, I'll get strong like you said, and I'll beat death to get you back."  
  
"I? I was only a kid then.," stuttered Akane.  
  
"True, but your actions afterwards lead you to work for your goals from then. Afterwards, you trained to be the best martial artist in Nerima. The whole time, you started loosing more and more of your patience. Though, over time you forgot your true reason for training so hard, you still trained. You eventually did become the best in Nerima, but at the cost of your patience." Void could see the tears in Akane's eyes.  
  
"How can you say I'm the best? I was until Ranma showed up, then Ryoga, Moose, and Shampoo showed up and they all can beat me. I'm no longer the best anymore, not even close. I failed my mom." Tears are now flowing like small rivers. "I FAILED MY MOM! She wanted my to be strong, but I'm not."  
  
"Have you ever asked Ranma to train you?"  
  
Akane was startled by the question. "What good would it do? The jerk won't fight me seriously. Some stupid thing about not hitting girls."  
  
"It would help if you wouldn't loose you temper with him. Even IF he would train you, why would he want to when you fly off the handle so easily?" Void saw that Akane was dumb founded. "Besides, haven't you ever considered that what you mom meant by being 'strong' is the ability to face your fears, conquer them, and move on. As I said, not every battle can be solved with martial arts."  
  
"And JUST what fears am I afraid of facing?" growled Akane.  
  
"That you might fall for Ranma, that even through your fathers' stupidity they might have done something right. But most of all, the fear that WHEN you and Ranma do admit your feelings to each other that you'll loose him like you did your mother."  
  
Ranma and Nul appeared in the middle of a bright spotlight. Outside of the light was nothing but pitch-black darkness. Null looks down at his wristwatch then back at Ranma. "Looks like we made good time getting here, so I'll have time to tell you what you need to know before your trial starts.  
  
Ranma turned to face Nul, "Who are you? Where are we and where is Akane?!"  
  
"All in good time Ranma," replied Nul. "If you don't interrupt me I'll tell you all that you want and need to know." Hearing no protests from Ranma, he continued. "My name is Nul, and we are inside your mind right now. You and Akane are in a unique situation. As we speak, both of your minds and souls are linked which mean now that either both of you will survive this trial or neither of you will. There is no middle ground."  
  
Shock crossed Ranma's face, "Our minds are liked? Y... you mean that she knows my thoughts?"  
  
A small grin formed on Nul's face. "Not right now, my partner Void and myself are keeping control of passes between you two. But if you two survive, the links will still remain. Only death can break the bond. Ranma, what is happening here is only the first step towards your destiny. There are large powers at play that are now converging on you. Now before you say anything, these powers are far greater than anything that you've ever seen. They are to Happosai and Cologne as an insect is to you."  
  
"How can anything be that strong? And even if it is, how am I important?"  
  
Nul looks at his wristwatch. "No time to fully explain everything to you now. But believe me that Cologne was right that you were special, she just didn't know how special. Someone like you only appears in the universe once every twenty million years. But I'll explain further latter." out of nowhere. They silently swing open to reveal a brightly lit courtroom. Nul looks from the doorway to Ranma and back. "Ranma, no matter what happens and what is said, I need you to watch your temper and not to speak unless directly spoken to. There is too much at stake and if you make the judge angry both you and Akane will die."  
  
Dr. Tofu was shocked by the site he saw when he arrived at the Tendo dojo. Sprawled out on mats on the floor were some of Nerima's finest martial artists in a condition that appeared to him as if they were in a middle of a war.  
  
All of the teens on the floor obviously had several burns, numerous cuts and abraitions, and possibly several broken bones as well. It was the burns that concerned Tofu the most. All of the burns were giving off mass amounts of Ranma's chi. As Dr. Tofu looked deeper into each victim, he noticed that all of their chi and ki levels were dangerously low, but stable.  
  
Soun noticed the young doctor standing at the door with the look of shock on his face. Stepping away from Kasumi who attending Ryoga, Soun walked over to Dr. Tofu. "Aw, doctor. I'm glad that you made it so soon."  
  
"Mr. Tendo, what has happened?"  
  
"It's a long story doctor. The short version is that they were fighting Ranma and Akane when something happened to Akane. The master had us bring them here" stated Soun.  
  
Tofu does a quick scan of the room, surveying the damage. "Ranma did this?" It was more of a statement then a question. He knew that Ranma was responsible just by sensing Ranma's chi signature. Soun's nod only confirmed his suspicions. If theses kids weren't martial artists, I doubt that they would have survived whatever happened. "You said something happened to Akane? Where is she?"  
  
The already pale Soun turned five more shades white. "The master said she was killed in the fight and that Ranma was trying to give her some of his life energy to bring her back."  
  
That explains a lot then. If Akane was killed, we're lucky just to be standing here. But Nul never said anything about Akane dying in the plan. Something must have gone wrong. "Mr. Tendo, I have faith in Ranma. If there is a way to save Akane, he'll find it. Until we hear something, these other kids need our attention." I hope he can save Akane, or else nothing will stop Ranma from getting his vengeance.   
  
When the fog cleared, Akane found herself standing in the empty Tendo dojo with Void. The outer door opens to show Ranma walking into the dojo. Not taking any notice of the other two, Ranma begins his workout.  
  
"Stupid family. Always leaving me here whenever Akane cooks. Can't that tomboy learn that her cooking is toxic?" spouted Ranma as he performed his kata.  
  
Akane pulls out her mallet and starts stomping over to Ranma. "YOU INSENSATIVE JERK!!!!" Akane's swing, however, never connects to Ranma's head. Instead, the mallet passes through as if Ranma was a ghost.  
  
Void walks over and yanks the mallet out of Akane's hands. "I did not bring you here to beat him up, I brought you here to teach you something."  
  
Akane gave Void an angry glare. "What's that?! That he doesn't like my cooking, that he NEVER appreciates the hard work I put into it?! I ALREADY KNOW THAT!"  
  
Void raises Akane's mallet over her head. "AKANE NO BAKA!" Taking a swing, Void sends Akane flying across the dojo. "NOW, as I was saying. I brought you here to learn something. And that is Ranma's side of things and point of view, things that not even you are willing to listen to. You're no better than anyone else. You only listen to what you want to hear and that fits into your concept of the truth. So, to fix that, you will be placed inside Ranma's head. You will see everything he sees, hear everything he hears, and know everything he is thinking. Try to keep an open mind."  
  
Before Akane could even respond, Void snapped her fingers and Akane's view shifted. She could see and feel her body moving through a kata, but she was no longer in control of it. What is going on here? What did Void do to me?   
  
Just then, Akane saw herself enter the dojo. "Ranma, dinner is ready. And you better eat it!"  
  
Akane heard Ranma in the back of her mind. Why does she always make me eat her food? She could at least make curry, she doesn't mess that up. What makes it worse is that I can't win with her. I don't eat it and I either get malleted or she cries and mallets me. If I do eat it, I gag and still get malleted but at least she won't cry.   
  
Come on Ranma, I'm not that bad!   
  
Sitting down at the table, the other Akane handed Ranma a plate full of red goo. "I'm trying one of Kasumi's Italian recipes."  
  
Ranma couldn't help but notice how the food tried to crawl off the plate. So much for hoping for curry. "Umm, Akane. What is it?"  
  
Akane fumed silently inside Ranma's head. Can't you tell its spaghetti you baka?   
  
The other Akane gave Ranma a smile. "Its lasagna."  
  
What?!   
  
Ranma looked at Akane then back down at the goo. Even though I know I'm going to get malleted for this, it's worth it. She is cute when she smiles. Ranma took a forkful of the goo and slowly put it in his mouth. The taste almost made him gag instantly, but he fought back the urge to try and swallow the foul mess. Once swallowed, Ranma's world started to go black.  
  
The Akane inside Ranma's mind started gagging. I can't believe my cooking is this bad! No wonder Ranma doesn't like it. I'm sorry Ranma.   
  
The last thing either Ranma or Akane heard before blacking out was the other Akane screaming "RANMA NO BAKA!" When they came to, they were in the back alley of the Nekohanten with Shampoo glomping onto them.  
  
"Aiya!! Airen come see Shampoo! We go on date?"  
  
Ranma's mind was screaming GET OFF ME! Akane will kill me if she saw me. "Shampoo let go."  
  
Shampoo only squeezed Ranma tighter. "If Ranma let Shampoo hug him, Shampoo give Ranma roman."  
  
Ranma felt his stomach agree to the offer. I really wish Akane made curry. At least I could eat it and don't have to risk getting kill again from Akane. "I guess Shampoo."  
  
Just then, Moose burst out of the back door whipping chains at Ranma. "Satome, I will not allow you to take away my Shampoo."  
  
Ranma easily dodged the chains. Geez, I'll never understand him. When is he going to realize that I want nothing to do with the flake? I rather eat Akane's toxic waste then have to worry about Shampoo or the old ghoul drugging my food. "You want her, you can have her."  
  
Throwing more chains at Ranma. "Are you saying that you're too good for Shampoo? I shall make you pay for that with your life!"  
  
Shampoo jumped behind Moose, hitting him on the head with her bonbori and knocking him out as she passed. "Stupid Moose, you no see that Ranma is better than you." Dropping her bonbori, Shampoo ran over and glommed Ranma. "Shampoo so happy with present Airen bought."  
  
That immediately got Akane's attention. PRESENT!! HE BOUGHT THAT BIMBO A PRESENT!!   
  
Ranma was dumb founded. "W? w? what do you mean?"  
  
Shampoo immediately pulled out a gold locket on a gold chain. "This one. Mercenary Girl said she give Shampoo present from Ranma early if pay five thousand yen."  
  
Anger was very visible on Ranma's face. Damn you Nabiki!! I've saved my own money for months to buy that for Akane's birthday, and she sells it to Shampoo for a quarter what I paid for it!! Reaching for the locket, "Give that to me! I didn't buy that for you, I bought it for Akane." Unfortunately, Shampoo pulled the locket away before Ranma could get it.  
  
Akane was stunned. He bought that for me? Ranma...   
  
Shampoo gave him a look that would send anyone else off to dig their own grave. "Why for you buy present for stupid pervert girl and not one for wife?"  
  
Making another attempt for the locket, "I have not been or will ever be your husband. Now give that back! Nabiki stole it from me!"  
  
Shampoo quickly puts the locket down her shirt. "If Airen want back, then marry Shampoo."  
  
Ranma takes a leap to the roof. "Forget it. Nothing is worth having to marry you." Turning on his heels, he immediately takes the most direct route back to the dojo. Upon arriving, Ranma went straight to Nabiki's room and kicked open the door.  
  
Nabiki was lying on her bed reading a magna when Ranma came bursting in. When she looked up, she saw anger clearly painted on his face. "There better be a good reason for busting in like that Satome."  
  
Ranma looked down at her with nothing but hate racing through his mind. "How DARE you steal that locket from me! I knew that you were into money laundering, racketeering, extortion, and a pedophile; but this is out right thievery! I never knew you were such a cold hearted bitch!"  
  
RRRRANMA!!!!! HOW DARE YOU TALK TO MY SISTER LIKE THAT! screamed Akane.  
  
Nabiki kept her face an expressionless poker face. "I told you that refusing to pose for those pictures for Kuno would cost you."  
  
Ranma glared at her. "Why should I pose for them? I paid all my debts to you, I saved the money for it on my own, WHAT IN THE HELL GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO GIVE IT TO SHAMPOO?!!"  
  
Closing the magna and sitting it on the bed. "Easy, you defied me. I couldn't send goons out to beat you up because you'll beat them up instead, so I got you where it hurts. Now, if you want money to get Akane a gift, you have to borrow it from me. And to do that, you need to perform some favors for me."  
  
Akane was shocked. Nabiki, how could you?   
  
Ranma turned to walk out. "Forget it. I'm free of you and I'm not going to be put back under your grasp."  
  
Nabiki quickly stood up and grabbed Ranma before he could leave. "Listen RANMA! If you think you can find a way to get a new present for Akane before tomorrow then you're dumber than I thought. And even if you do, I still can make your life hell. Your other fiancÃ©es showing up to grope you at her birthday party, Kuno and Ryoga showing up to challenge you, making your other present disappear. Hell, if all else fails, I can doctor up some picture of you getting 'intiment' with one or all of your other fiancÃ©es. And Akane will never believe you over me. Nobody will believe you over me. And if it broke off the engagement, then all the better. I wouldn't want you in the family anyways. Face it Ranma, you will play by my rules."  
  
Lowering his head in defeat, "Fine. What do you want?"  
  
A smirk grows on Nabiki's face. "I'll tell you AFTER Akane's birthday. But for not accepting my request for the photo shoot, you will be punished by not having a present for Akane for her birthday. Now get out of my site before I decide to scream and claim that you were going to assault me."  
  
As Ranma walked through the doorway, Akane saw a blinding flash of light. When it cleared, she was back in the dojo in her body standing in front of Void.  
  
Void grinned at Akane and place a hand on her shoulder. "I hope it was enlightening to see things through Ranma's eyes."  
  
Akane could not believe everything that she saw. "Is it true? Did all this really happen?"  
  
Void nodded. "Yes, this all happened the day before your birthday last year. I hope that you now see that things aren't always Ranma's fault. Unfortunately we don't have any time to discuss this. We have to go, the trial is starting."  
  
"What trial?"  
  
"Ranma's." With the snap of her fingers, they both vanished in a bright flash of light.  
  
Ranma found himself sitting behind a large table. To his left, was his look-alike with the chrome hair. Further to the left was another table, but this one appeared to be unoccupied. In front of him, was a solid oak bench that was three times as tall as he was. To the left of it, was a small platform that held a single chair on it.  
  
Just as he was going to ask his companion what was going on, a man in a police uniform appeared in a puff of smoke. "Hear ye, hear ye. Court is now in session. The honorable judge Reaper presiding. All rise."  
  
At the top of the bench, there was another puff of smoke. When it cleared, a figure in a black hooded robe was sitting at the bench. A bone hand swung a gavel down. "Court is now in session. Bailiff, bring out the Disney characters for execution."  
  
A sweat drop appears on the bailiff's head. "Umm sir, that's next."  
  
The judge takes his boney hand and smacks the side of his head. "Aww, where is my memory. This is the Sailor Scouts versus 'The People Who Have Migraines Because of Listening To Them' case."  
  
"No sir, the SS versus TPWHMBLTT case is next Thursday."  
  
Slamming his hand down on the bench, "Then what case is this?"  
  
The bailiff pulls out a folder from hammer space and hands it to the judge. "This is the Fates versus Satome case sir."  
  
The judge takes the folder and studies the content for sometime. "Aww, Mr. Satome. Boy this is a mess you got yourself into. Defying the Fates, lying to your fiancÃ©e and family, AND being an accomplice in Akane Tendo's murder. You have entered a plea of not guilty and request that not only we spare Miss Tendo her life but yours as well. I have to say, I haven't seen a case like this in six thousand years." Tossing the file behind him, "Normally, this is where we would have opening statements. But since I want this trial over with so I can see Mickey Mouse executed, we will skip them. The prosecution may call their first witness."  
  
A puff a smoke appears at the table to the left of Ranma, when it clears Ben Matlock and Ally McBeal are sitting behind it. Matlock immediately stands. "I must object your honor. We're not really crappy lawyers, we just play them on T.V."  
  
The judge slams his gavel down. "Over ruled. You have no choice here. Either you can finally do something important here, or you can go back to your pathetic shows and I'll find some other T.V. lawyers."  
  
Matlock takes a step away from the table. "Very well. My first witness is Genma Satome." Genma appears in the chair next to the judge's bench in a puff of smoke. "Mr. Satome, would you describe your son for the court."  
  
Genma reached up and adjusted his glasses. "My son is laziest and the most disrespectful person I have ever seen. He never listens to me or shows me or his fiancÃ©e the respect we deserve. And he is always slacking off in his training."  
  
Matlock walks over to the witness stand. "Tell me Mr. Satome about the other fiancÃ©es."  
  
"His only problem with them is that he can't tell them to take a hike. And as for Akane, he won't admit his true feelings to her."  
  
Matlock walks back towards his chair and motions to Nul. "Your witness."  
  
Nul stood and walked towards the witness stand. "Mr. Satome, could you tell me exactly how many people you have engaged Ranma to?"  
  
Genma's face paled. "Well? umm?"  
  
"Isn't true that in Japan alone, you have engaged Ranma to over five thousand people, a thousand of them are men engaged to his cursed form."  
  
Ranma began digging his nails into the table. How could that baka engage to guys? I'm going to kill him for this.   
  
Nul continued with his questioning. "Isn't true that during your trip to China that you engaged Ranma to another seven thousand girls? And isn't true that just this week, you engaged Ranma to ten more?"  
  
Ally jumped to her feet. "Objection! He has no bases for this line of questioning."  
  
Nul waved his hand and a pile of paperwork appears on both the judge's bench and the prosecution's table. "In these files, contains the information to all of the twelve thousand five hundred and eighty five fiancÃ©es that Genma Satome had arranged for Ranma and the reasons why Genma arranged them. His reasons vary from wanting a cup of sake, to being caught stealing family heirlooms."  
  
The judge dug through the pile of papers. After pausing for a moment on a few pages, he grabbed the pile and tossed it behind him. "Objection overruled."  
  
Nul sticks his tongue out at the prosecution then turns back to face Genma. "Mr. Satome, could you tell me why you decided to go to the Tendos and honor that engagement?"  
  
Genma sat up in his chair and gave one of his 'I am wiser than you' looks. "Aww yes, I decided that after Ranma's extensive training that it was time to honor my agreement to Soun Tendo and combine the schools."  
  
Nul, now pacing in front of Genma, "So, your decision had nothing to do with the fact that you were being hunted not only but various authorities in both Japan and China, but also by Shampoo and numerous demons? Isn't true that the only reason you went to the Tendos is because you needed a place to lay low? Before you answer, may I remind you that all your memories are on record and filed as evidence."  
  
Genma slumped back into his chair. "True, I did go back there to lay low. But I also intended to honor the agreement to merge the schools."  
  
"Mr. Satome, why should anyone believe that you ever intended to honor this one agreement when you have already made the same one to twelve thousand eight hundred eighty five other people and still continue to add people to this number to this very day? They shouldn't! You said that you needed a place to lay low. Why couldn't you go home to your wife that you abandoned for the past ten or eleven years?"  
  
"Are you kidding? With the curse both me and Ranma would both be dead!"  
  
A large book appeared in Nul's hands titled 'Genma Satome's Thoughts and Memory' with a large red stamp on it that said 'EVIDENCE.' Thumbing through the pages, "Lets see? Aww yes. The promise. From the way its stated here, you tricked Ranma to unknowingly sign it stating, and I quote, 'Boy, if you don't sign it I'll make sure that the rest of your life is as miserable as I can make it.' So I don't see how the promise could effect Ranma." Nul flips through some more pages. "In fact, according to your own thoughts, the reasons you didn't want to go home is that you didn't want to be force to get a job and you didn't want to risk Nodoka finding out what you have done and punish you for it. You talked about Ranma not being able to solve his problems, well you are the source of most of them."  
  
Ally jumped up. "Objection!"  
  
The judge looked down at her, "On what grounds?"  
  
Nul gave Ally a smirk, "Probably on the grounds that she doesn't many lines in this story."  
  
Ally sunk back down. "Objection withdrawn."  
  
A timer bell chimes from the judge's bench; the judge looks down at Genma. "I'm sorry, but that's all the time we have for you. But we do have a nice consolation prize." An anvil appears above Genma's head sending the elder Satome through the floor. Seconds later, the floor and chair mysteriously repair themselves. "Does the prosecution have another witness?"  
  
Matlock pulled himself out of his seat. "Umm yes sir. I would like to call Ryoga Hibiki to the stand."  
  
A portal appeared above the witness stand; out of it Ryoga fell and landed in the witness chair. Ryoga scanned the room with a dumbfounded look on his face. Noticing Ranma, "Ranma! How did you get to Brazil?"  
  
Matlock walked over to Ryoga and tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me Mr. Hibiki, I was hoping that you could answer a few questions. Could you please describe Ranma Satome to the court?"  
  
Ryoga looked over at Matlock, "Umm sure. Ranma is a dishonorable coward, always cheating to win his fights. He is a womanizer, and never treats Akane right. But most of all, he is the reason I am cursed and why I've been through hell."  
  
Matlock grin and returned to his seat. "No further questions."  
  
Nul stands and mutters to himself. "They got to be kidding if these are their best witnesses." Stepping in front of Ryoga, "Mr. Hibiki, could you give me one example on how Ranma is a 'dishonorable coward?"  
  
Ryoga shot a glance at Ranma. "That's easy. The fight he was suppose to show up for but ended up chickening out and running to China."  
  
Nul shook his head, not believing what he was hearing. "Lets see if I got you correct. You're saying that the fact that you were four days late for the fight, that fact alone would have most people saying you forfeited, and he only waited three days makes him a dishonorable coward? It wasn't even his fault that he wasn't there on the fourth, his father dragged him off."  
  
Ryoga shot Nul a hateful look. "Well, it's because of him that I'm cursed."  
  
Nul took a step closer to Ryoga. "Maybe its true that he accidentally knocked you into the spring, but its nobody's fault BUT your own that you were in China chasing him for a fight that you're not even man enough to admit that you forfeited. Tell me, why did you never tell Akane about your curse and that you were her P-chan? Let me remind you like I did Mr. Satome, your thoughts and memories are on record and are logged as evidence."  
  
Ryoga tried to leap at Nul but ended up bouncing off a blue force field and landing back in his chair. "How dare you invade my thoughts and memories! What gives you that right?!"  
  
Nul held out his hand, a sheet of paper appeared with the word 'Sopena' in large letters at the top. "This gives us the right! Now, answer the question."  
  
Defeat washed over Ryoga's face. "If Akane found out my curse, she would hate me."  
  
"So, you're saying that you were afraid of Akane hating you because of your curse. But, if you were honest with her to BEGIN with then she would never hate you. No, there is another reason. Isn't there?"  
  
Crossing his arms, "I have no idea what you mean."  
  
Reaching behind himself, Nul pulled out a think book entitles 'The Thoughts and Memories of Ryoga Hibiki.' Opening the book at the bookmark, "It says here, that you purposely did the whole P-chan routine to get revenge on Ranma for cursing you and for being better than you in martial arts."  
  
Ryoga once again tries leaping for Nul, but finds that the force field is still there and lands back in his seat. "Ranma is not better than me! The ONLY reason he beats me is because he cheats!"  
  
Closing the book, "Aw, one of the famous Nerima lines. I believe my client even said that once or twice. I never understood the way you think even after," holds up the book, "reading this book. You can never admit that someone can possibly be better than you. The only way they can ever beat you is if they cheat. But enough of that. Will you tell us about you P- chan plan, or should I start the video tape?"  
  
Lowering his head in defeat, "I originally did the P-chan bit and pretend to be in love with Akane to ruin Ranma's happiness. After all he did ruin my life with this curse. I saw that driving a wedge between those two, and possibly getting Akane would be the perfect revenge." Looking up at Nul, "But I knew if Akane ever found out that I was P-chan than all my plans would be for nothing. So, before I set my plan into motion I made Ranma promise on his honor, what little there is, that he would never tell Akane about my curse. I wasn't expecting that Ranma would keep it. I was expecting that Ranma would break it and I could prove that he had no honor and wasn't fit to marry Akane. But he kept it, much to my surprise. Along the way I fell in love with Akane, which would only make my revenge sweeter. Not only would I take away Ranma's happiness, but I'll also be getting a woman that I love. But I realize that if Akane ever found out that her P-chan that slept with her, watched her change her clothes, and listen to her deepest secretes was me; than not only my plans for ruining Ranma's happiness be destroyed, but also any chance of me being happy."  
  
Nul whaps Ryoga on the head. "You, and you alone are the reason for your unhappiness. You're directional problem is because you never pay attention to where you are going. You're curse is the result of you never being able to admit that someone could be better than you, failing to arrive at a battle on time, and then pushing the blame onto Ranma and following him to China because you lost by default."  
  
Returning to his chair next to Ranma, Nul looks to the judge. "Your honor, I move that the prosecution stop wasting the court's time and actually present worth-while witnesses or else rest their case."  
  
The judge ponders a moment. "Agreed. The prosecution is allowed only one more witness." Looking down at Ryoga, "Thanks for playing. For participating we have a parting gift for you."  
  
The judge presses a button on his chair. Above Ryoga, water appears and drenches him, turning him into P-chan. As Ryoga escaped his clothing, Asuza can bouncing in and snatched her Charlotte and exited the courtroom.  
  
Ranma look on in disbelief. What in the hell is going on here? This is just too weird. The next thing I know, they'll be calling my cursed half.   
  
Ally smacked Matlock on the back of the head as she stood. "Your honor, for our final witness we call Ranma Satome's cursed half, Ranko Satome."  
  
Ranma's jaw dropped as his female side appeared in the witness stand. Ally seemed to take great pleasure from Ranma's reaction and began Ranko's questioning. "Ranko, could you for the court, tell us about yourself?"  
  
Ranko looked around the courtroom, taking a long look at Ranma. "First of all, my name is neither Ranko or Ranma. But my spirit has been trapped in Jusenkyo for so long and in so many other bodies I have forgotten my true name over the centuries, so I will accept Ranko if I must."  
  
Ally shuffles through some papers in front of her. "Could you tell us about the background of Jusenkyo? Particularly Nyanniichuan and Nanniichuan?"  
  
"Aww! The first two springs in Jusenkyo, back when Jusenkyo was holy ground. The springs were setup as blessings for people whose destiny requires someone that can be both male and female. The spring's magic will draw those who need it to it unknowingly and will not allow the magic to be lifted until the destiny is fulfilled. The biggest differences in those two springs compared top the others it only the people who need Nyanniichuan or Nanniichuan will be able to fall into them, and the changes that the blessings those two pools give can be fully controlled."  
  
Ally looks over at Ranma, "And ever since Ranma fell into Nyanniichuan, he has used your form numerous times to save his fiancÃ©e Akane. And yet he has never accepted you as being part of him." Looking back at Ranko, "Could you tell the court what is it like inside Mr. Satome?"  
  
Ranko was puzzled for a moment, searching for the right words. "I believe I'd have to say it's cramped. There is Ranma's soul, my soul, a cat's soul from Neko-ken training, a piece of Nul's essence, four chi dragons, and four ki phoenixes. Then there is the enormous amount of powers and abilities that he hasn't even tapped into yet."  
  
"I see..." stated Ally. "You said that Nyanniichuan and Nanniichuan were blessings, but why is it that even the Jusenkyo guides call them curses?"  
  
Ranko pulls out a book entitled 'Jusenkyo Unmasked' and opens to the bookmark in the middle. Reading from the book, "In the year 3512 B.C. Jusenkyo's grounds was tarnished and became cursed when members of the Shadow Dragon cult attempted to create a third pool using a hatching from a Shadow Dragon. Instead of creating a new spring, the act caused the wrath of the gods that watched over Jusenkyo. From that moment on, the grounds where forever cursed and all knowledge about Nyanniichuan and Nanniichuan was lost."  
  
Tuning the page, "Approximately one thousand, two hundred years ago, The Order of Light attempted to remove Jusenkyo's curse by recreating what was thought to be the lost springs of Nyanniichuan and Nanniichuan. As fate would have it, the two were drowned in still very active blessed springs of Nyanniichuan and Nanniichuan. Seeing that Jusenkyo's curse wasn't lifted, the springs where named on that day the cursed springs of Nyanniichuan and Nanniichuan." Tossing the book behind her, "That the short version of the spring's history."  
  
The judge's timer goes off causing Ranko to vanish in midair. Smashing the timer with his boney hand, the judge looked down at Ally and Matlock. "I should of known better than to get T.V. lawyers, but budget cuts won't allow me to hire a real prosecution team. For your failure in presenting a decent case, your Ally will always be remembered as an airhead lawyer on some stupid show. And you Matlock, will only be remembered by old people. Well, that's if they can remember." With the wave of his hand, the pathetic lawyers where gone. "As for if Ranma is fit for bringing Akane Tendo back to the living, I will have to deliberate. We will take a short recess." With a puff of smoke, the judge was gone.  
  
Ono Tofu saw many injuries throughout his training and career. But these injuries that the teens before him had were mind-boggling. All of them received what should have been a fatal chi blast, but what he could tell Ranma's residual chi signature was the only thing keeping alive while their own chi levels return to safe levels.  
  
Accepting the cup of tea offered by Kasumi, Tofu sat against the dojo wall surveying his patients. Other than the low chi, broken ribs, and burns they will be up and about in a few days. Whatever Nul had planned, did it have to be so dangerous?   
  
Tofu was too deep in his thoughts to notice Soun's approach. "Doctor, how are they doing?"  
  
Looking down into his cup of tea, "Honestly, they're very lucky to even be alive right now. Whatever Ranma hit them with was very powerful and almost completely drained all of their chi. The only then that is keeping them alive right now is Ranma's residual chi signature." Looking up at Soun, "Just how big was the blast?"  
  
"Everything within a two block radius was destroyed. But we felt the shockwave several blocks way." Stated Soun.  
  
Behind them, the dojo door opens and a figure in a gray robe steps in. Soun starts to step towards the newcomer, but Tofu immediately stands and places a hand on Soun's shoulder. "Mr. Tendo, its alright. I know him." Looking up at the figure, "What is it Nul?"  
  
The figure shook his head, "Sorry, I'm not Nul. I'm his brother Nil. Nul sent me to look after these mortals while you go retrieve the boy and the girl. They about the be released from the energy bubble."  
  
Tofu gave a nod and glance over at the approaching Kasumi. "Very well, we'll be leaving then."  
  
Before they could leave, Nabiki stepped out and blocked the doorway. "Oh no you don't. Nobody is leaving here until they explain what the hell is going on here."  
  
Nil's eyes began to glow inside the darkness created by the hood. "Listen mercenary, there are powers at play that you can never comprehend and stakes so high that if you were told you'd go into shock. If you dare try to stand in the way of the fates, then I will have to remove you. Now, I suggest you step aside. You will be told what you need to know if and when you need to know it."  
  
Nabiki look unconvinced. "Nice cheap affect. But I don't scare that easily and I won't move until I get answers."  
  
Kasumi looked Nil almost begging. "Nil, please don't hurt her. She just doesn't understand."  
  
Nil's glowing eyes disappear back into the darkness under the hood. "Very well, only because it'll use too much power to do that and we can't risk being discovered yet." Waving his hand, both Kasumi and Tofu vanish in a bright flash of light.  
  
Soun, seeing this, immediately begins to freak out. "KASUMI!!! What happened to my little girl?"  
  
Nil shakes his head in disbelief. "Nul and Void told me that you were emotional, but I never expected this. Calm down Mr. Tendo. Kasumi is fine, I only teleported her to Ranma and Akane." Seeing Soun calm down, he turned his attention back to Nabiki. "And you, if you try to interfere again I'll curse you to never be able to touch money again."  
  
Akane sat in a baron room with Void. The only things inside the room other than themselves were their chairs and the TV that displayed Ranma's so- called trial. What Akane saw on the screen was the weirdest thing that she has ever seen, and being around Ranma that was saying a lot.  
  
Void watch the events unfold silently, only speaking to answer Akane's questions. Even Void had to admit the trial was weird, and she's been around the universe once or twice.  
  
Both of them were pulled out of their thoughts when the TV turned itself off and the bailiff appeared in the room. "The judge will see her now Void." stated the bailiff.  
  
Void turn to face Akane, "Akane, from this point on you must go alone. You must answer all of the judge's questions truthfully. Remember, you're not the only one with something at stake here, Ranma is also putting everything on the line for you so don't fail him."  
  
"But what if the judge doesn't like my answers? What will happen then?"  
  
Void took Akane's hand into her own. "You must have faith in yourself. I know you can do this if you remember who you're doing this for and especially remember to watch your temper. Now get out of her before you make the judge mad." With that said, both Akane and the bailiff vanish in a puff of smoke.  
  
Ranma sat in his chair nervously. What's takin' the judge so long? How long does it take for him to let me and Akane go back home?   
  
To answer Ranma's question, the judge reappeared at his bench. "After careful deliberation, I've come to a possible decision but I must ask a few follow up questions. Bailiff, bring in Akane Tendo."  
  
As soon as the bailiff vanished, Nul leaned over and whispered in Ranma's ear. "From this point on, I can't help you much. Just remember who you are doing this for and why. Also, make sure that you think before you speak. But most importantly, you must be truthful. If you don't do as I said, then all of this would have been for nothing and both you and Akane will perish."  
  
Before Ranma could respond, the bailiff reappeared next to the witness stand with Akane sitting on the stand. The judge turns to face the stand. "Thank you bailiff. Now Miss Tendo, I have a few questions that I need answered so that I can get to watching Minnie Mouse at the gallows and Mickey Mouse in the electric chair."  
  
"Um... ok. What do you need to know?" responded Akane hesitantly.  
  
The judge pulls out a notepad and begins to read from it. "Very well. First, how would you feel if had a Jusenkyo curse such as Nanniichuan? What if you got the Neko-ken curse? Which one would you prefer to have?"  
  
Curse? Why would I get a curse? Ok Akane, think carefully. Ranma's and mine lives are at stake here. Taking a deep breath, Akane gave her answer. "I really don't know about how I'd feel if I go a Jusenkyo curse. If it was something like Nanniichuan, I guess I could learn to live with it; at least I would still be human. As for the Neko-ken, I don't think I would want it. Sure, it's an unbeatable technique but the costs are too high. To gain the technique also means that someone also gains a fear of cats and sometimes looses their sanity."  
  
The judge wrote some notes down on the notepad. Flipping to the next page, he continued. "One last question, what are your feelings towards Mr. Satome?"  
  
Oh man, not that one. Anything but that question. Looking at Ranma for an answer, she couldn't find one. "I'm not sure. Every time we seem to be getting along something happens to ruin it. Every time we're alone, we keep getting interrupted."  
  
Writing more note down on the pad, "And you Mr. Satome, what are your feelings towards Miss Tendo?"  
  
Ranma looked like a deer caught in headlights after the judge asked him the question. "I... I'm not sure. I do sorta like her but other than that I don't really know."  
  
Scribbling some more in the notepad, "Uh huh..." Setting the pad down, the judge looks from Ranma to Akane and back. "It is my understanding that, despite what you both have said, you do know how you feel about each other and are just too afraid to say it. Normally, I would hold this against you. But since both Nul and the fates want to back into the world of the living and I REALLY want to get to the execution, I will restore Akane Tendo's life and return both of you to the living on the following conditions. First, both Nul and Void will cease the filtering of Ranma's and Akane's now established and permanent mental link. Second, both Ranma and Akane are forever soul bound. That means, if one of you should die the other will not be able to live any longer than a year. This also means that you, Akane, will receive a curse similar to Ranma's. So, from this point on if you get splashed with cold water you will become a man." To prove his point, the judge takes his glass of water and tosses it at Akane causing her to transform into her new male form. "And the final condition, you both will spend seven years alone in the spirit realm. During that time, Ranma is to train Akane to get her up to par with him as well as you both learn to control your curses. Failure to meet those terms will result in your immediate termination. Case closed!"  
  
With a swing of his gavel, both the judge and bailiff vanished in a puff of smoke leaving Nul alone with Ranma and Akane. "I can't say that was the best trial I've seen, but at least you two are still alive."  
  
Akane looks down at her new male self. "Just great! Now I'm stuck turning into a guy every time it rains."  
  
Ranma crosses his arms in front of his chest and leans back in his chair. "Welcome to the club. But I gotta say that this is the weirdest way to join."  
  
Nul waves his hand and the courtroom transforms into a campsite in the middle of a forest. Both Ranma and Akane fall to the ground after their chairs disappeared out from under them. "Welcome to your new training camp. Sorry about the single tent, but with budget cuts we couldn't afford another. Besides, you're both engaged so it'll be no problem."  
  
"Just great, not ONLY do I have to spend seven years with that pervert, but I have to share a tent with him too!" spouted Akane.  
  
Nul shook his head. "Now, now; that's no way to talk about someone that you have to spend so much time with. Besides, when I leave you will be able to hear each other's thoughts."  
  
"Great, now I'll get hit more cuz of her cooking.," muttered Ranma under his breath.  
  
Swinging her mallet at Ranma, "I HEARD THAT!"  
  
Snapping his fingers, Nul caused the mallet to vanish in mid-swing. "Akane, you'll have to find another way to deal with your anger. Because once I'm gone, all the pain Ranma feels, you'll feel." Pulling a thermos out of mid-air, Nul dumped the contents onto Akane's head, changing her back to her normal body. As the water flowed down Akane, it changed her gi into a green and black chinese outfit like Ranma's. "Consider it my going away present.," stated Nul as he vanished in a bright flash of light. 


	9. 

Interlude  
  
Keiichi sat back in the bath and soaked in what he considered the best day that he has ever had since the arrival of Belldandy. After Skuld and Urd got called back to the heavens to do some system debugging, Keiichi was actually able to spend a peaceful day alone with Bell.What a great day! No extra gods or goddesses, no demons or demonesses, and especially no sempai! Just me and Bell all day. Thinking back to the picnic him and Belldandy had, and the kiss she gave him, Keiichi couldn't help but smile. "Nothing could ruin today!"At that moment, fate chose to punish Keiichi for making such a statement. A glowing portal formed in the bath water directly in front of Keiichi. Being use to weird event that occur at the temple, Keiichi grabs a towel that was beside the bath and used it to cover himself just before Skuld appeared.  
  
"I'm back!" broadcasted Skuld as she floated in midair above the bath. Looking around, "Wait, this isn't the kitchen." Looking down, Skuld notices Keiichi cowering behind a towel. "Oh, sorry K."  
  
"Oh, Skuld. You're back," beamed Belldandy from the open door. "You're just in time for dinner too."  
  
"Great! I'm starving!" exclaimed Skuld as she ran out of the bathroom and past Belldandy.  
  
Bell smiled at K and closed the door as she left. Keiichi sank lower in the tub. "Great, there goes a quiet evening. What else could go wrong?" Not waiting for an answer, he got out of the tub and dressed to go eat dinner.  
  
Dinner, for the most part, was uneventful. It mostly consisted of Urd and Skuld arguing over whom nailed the most bugs. It wasn't until Belldandy served desert that things got worse for Keiichi. Suddenly all color in the objects in the room vanished leaving Keiichi and the goddesses the only ones with color. Then, the goddesses passed out, Bell landing Keiichi's arms, and began to glow with an eerie light.  
  
Keiichi tried to move and speak, but found himself frozen in place. Just as quickly as it started, the glow around the goddesses faded and the color return to the room. Looking down at the awaking Belldandy in his arm, "Bell, are you ok?"  
  
"I'm fine K," replied Belldandy.  
  
"Oh, my head," moaned Urd. "Did anyone get the license of that bus?"  
  
"Ice cream? Ice cream?" whimpered Skuld.  
  
"What just happened here?" asked Keiichi as he held Belldandy sit up.  
  
The answer to his question was heard as a thunderbolt hit the ground. Urd manages to crawl outside to read the message inscribed in the ground. "This is not good."  
  
"What does it say Urd?" asked Belldandy.  
  
Leaning closer, "To the goddesses Belldandy, Urd, and Skuld. It has been discovered that some outside force has tapped into the ultimate force as well as modified system files pertaining to two individuals, Akane Tendo and Ranma Satome. Due to this, there have been numerous system glitches one of which makes it impossible to observe Nerima or to read the modified files. You are to proceed to Nerima and observe Akane Tendo and Ranma Satome to see what changes have been made."  
  
"That is bad," gasped Belldandy.  
  
"There's more," stated Urd. "Be warned, that due to the system glitches that the gate is not functional and all powers are limited. Until further noticed, you are on your own until the system is repair."  
  
"Just great!" whined Skuld. "We have to look into something that messed with the system and we won't have our full powers or any help."  
  
"Perhaps we should get a good night's sleep before we go," suggested Belldandy.  
  
"Might as well," muttered Urd. "I'm too tired to go anywhere."  
  
Tenchi stood in front of his grandfather with his bokken ready to strike. They've been at this for hours and his grandfather would not let him quit until Tenchi had learned the new technique.  
  
Wiping the sweat from his eyes, "Come on grandpa, we've been at this for hours. I just don't think I'll ever get it."  
  
The elder man stood with his bokken at his side as if his grandson was no threat to him. "Tenchi, in you fight with Kragato you only begun to access your power. You must learn how to call it forth and control it before it controls you."  
  
"But grandpa, I haven't been able to use the light hawk wings since my fight with Kragato," stated Tenchi.  
  
Dropping his bokken to the ground, "Perhaps I've been going about this the wrong way," stated his grandfather.  
  
"Does that mean we can go in and eat now grandpa?"  
  
Pulling the sword Tenchi from his robes, Tenchi's grandfather took an attack stance as the blade flared to life. "Nope, it means I'm upping the stakes."  
  
Stumbling backwards, "Wh? whoa grandpa!"  
  
Without saying another word, Tenchi's grandfather leapt into the air bringing the blade down onto Tenchi. Right before the blade contacted Tenchi, the light hawk wings formed stopping the sword in mid-strike.  
  
"Well done Tenchi. I knew you could do it if properly motivated." Deactivating the sword and handing it back to Tenchi, "How about we see if dinner is ready now?" Without waiting for a response, his grandfather walked away heading towards the house.  
  
Tenchi could only stare at the sword in his hand, not believing what had just happen. It wasn't until he heard Sasami calling out his name that he came out of his daze.  
  
"Tenchi! Tenchi, are you coming to dinner?" asked the cheerful voice behind him.  
  
"Huh? Oh, it's you Sasami," answered Tenchi not taking his eyes off his sword.  
  
The blue haired girl with a cabbit on her head moved around Tenchi so that she now stood in front of him. With her smile vanished as she looked up at Tenchi. "Tenchi? Tenchi, are you alright?"  
  
"Meow, meow?" asked Ryoki.  
  
Looking at Sasami, Tenchi couldn't help but smile. "I'm fine Sasami, I was just thinking. Come on, let's go eat before Ryoko gets it all."  
  
The smile returned to her face. "Ok Tenchi."  
  
"Meow, meow," agreed Ryoki. Together, the three of them walked down the path towards the house.  
  
Dinner was the normal affair. Ryoko and Ayeka was fighting over who was more beautiful or something like that, Mihoshi was trying to break the two up and doing a poor job at it. Sasami was refilling Tenchi's grandfather's cup, and Tenchi was trying his best to be unnoticed.  
  
Tenchi's father, after looking around the table for several minutes, noticed that someone was missing. "Hey, where is Washu?"  
  
"She said she was working on some experiment and didn't want to be disturbed," replied Ryoko.  
  
"Oh, is that all," replied the father cheerfully.  
  
Sasami looked over towards the door to Washu's lab. "Maybe I should take her some dinner later."  
  
"That's nice of you Sasami," stated Tenchi.  
  
Suddenly Ayeka, Sasami, Tenchi, and his grandfather froze in place. As they sat frozen, a pale glow surrounded the figures. As quickly as it started, the glow faded and the Jurians collapsed to the floor.  
  
"Tenchi!" Ryoko immediately leapt across the table and knelt beside Tenchi. Pulling Tenchi into her arms, "Tenchi, what happened?"  
  
"Sss... some... one... dddrained Jjjurrri's pppower," Ayeka meakly studdered.  
  
"Boy with pigtail," mumbled Sasami.  
  
Turning her attention to Sasami, "Who is it. Who's doing this?" asked Ryoko  
  
"Rrr... Ranma," muttered Tenchi.  
  
"That's it!" exclaimed Ryoko, "I don't know who this Ranma is but NOBODY does this to Tenchi and gets away with it!"  
  
"I think I've heard that name before." spoke Tenchi's father.  
  
Ryoko immediately turn and grabbed the father by his shirt collar. "WHO IS HE? WHERE IS HE?" demanded Ryoko.  
  
"I... I don't know," replied the pale-face father. "All I remember is Tenchi's mother saying she had a sister named Nodoka and that she had a son named Ranma."  
  
"Wouldn't that make this Ranma Tenchi's cousin?" blurted Mihoshi.  
  
"I don't care who he is, he will not be allowed to hurt Tenchi like this and get away with it," stated Ryoko.  
  
"Ryoko, you will do nothing to harm Ranma!" commanded the now sitting grandfather. "Tenchi and the others will be fine in the morning. What happened here was us sensing Ranma being near death."  
  
Gasping, "You mean Tenchi's cousin is dying?" asked the teary-eyed Mihoshi.  
  
The grandfather shook his head, "No, if Ranma had died there would be no power drain. He apparently was in the position that he would of died if he didn't tap into Juri's power."  
  
"What could of caused him to do that?" asked the father.  
  
"I do not know, but I intend to find out," replied the grandfather. "Tomorrow, Tenchi, Ayeka, Sasami and I will travel to check on Ranma."  
  
"If Tenchi is going, I'm going too," declared Ryoko.  
  
"You will not!" commanded grandfather. "This is a family matter. If the situation is under control, then you may come. But not a moment sooner."  
  
Ryoko crossed her arms and "humfed" in defeat.  
  
"Do you know where to find Ranma?" asked father.  
  
"According to Nodoka's letters, Ranma has been staying with his fiancee at the Tendo dojo. I believe that I'll start looking there first." Standing up, stetching and yawning, grandfather started to walk away from the table. "I'm tunring in for the night. We've got a long day ahead of us in the morning."  
  
Washu spent the entire day in her lab working an finishing her most important experiment or all time in time to meat her dead line. Typing a few last commands into her computer, Washu leaned back in her chair and wiped the sweat off her brow. "I'm suck a little genius!"  
  
"That's why we came to you," stated the voice from behind her.  
  
Without turning around, Washu already knew who it was. "Someday Blank, either you or Null will have to show me how you get by my security system."  
  
Blank seemed unaffected under his concealing robes. "That, you'll have to take up with my cousin Null the next time you see him. Have you finished the project as we asked?"  
  
Washu turned in her chair with her arms crossed, and faced her guest. "Just finished. But did you know that there isn't one, but five full blooded Saiyans and two half Saiyans living on Earth?"  
  
"How do you know this?" asked Blank.  
  
"Easy, you did give me the complete information on EVERY Saiyan that exists as well as their locations in the universe. Although I did find the information on the Saiyans here on Earth to be the most interesting."  
  
Blank scratches his head. "What do you mean?"  
  
Washu turns back to her computer console and keyed in a few commands. A large image of Goku appeared on the screen. "We'll start with him. His name is Goku, originally it was Kakorrat. He is a Saiyan of First Class, extreme callabor. Before being sent to Earth as a child, his records were changed so that he would be listed a low-ranking Third Class Saiyan. The goal was to hide him on Earth from Freeza and allow him the time he needed to train to become strong enough to free the Saiyans from Freeza's grasps. Nobody, not even the Saiyan royalty, knows Goku's true classification. It has it listed that his special ability is to be able to gain twice the power with half the training as a normal Saiyan."  
  
Typing another set of commands, Goku's image is replaced with that of Chi Chi. "Goku's wife, Chi Chi, is a Saiyan and doesn't even know it. She is a princess to the Saiyans. But when her father saw that Freeza was getting bored with the Saiyans, he managed to have all records and memories of her be erased and had her sent to Earth in hopes that one Saiyan would live on. Her and Goku had two sons," the image shifts to show Gohan and Goten, "named Gohan and Goten. Both are full-blooded Saiyans."  
  
"Ok, thats four full-blooded Saiyans. I thought you said there was five?" commented Blank.  
  
Punching in even more commands, Vegetta's image in now on screen. "Thats where things get interesting. Sometime latter on the crown prince of the Saiyans, Vegetta, shows up here and manages to have a half-saiyan son named Trunks." Vegetta's image flickers out to show Trunks's image.  
  
Blank is now visibly counting on his fingers. "Aren't you missing one?"  
  
"Glad you've been paying attention. Not many people are able to keep up with a genius like me," chimed Washu.  
  
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever!" mumbled Blank.  
  
Videl's image now appears on the screen, "This is the last of them, Videl Satan. Her mother is an unknown Saiyan sent to Earth to escape Freeza destroying the Saiyan home world."  
  
Blank scratches his head, "I don't see how this information effects our project. Sure, there's more Saiyans on Earth than we figured on and need to watch. But I don't see how that could have any bearing on us."  
  
Washu turns once again to face Blank. "The retro virus that you had me design will turn whoever you inject it into to a virtual Saiyan, will all the ablities of a Saiyan without loosing any other of their original abilities, and definitely none of the hair problems of a Saiyan. It will also only infect the person or persons that it is injected into UNLESS they have some pre-existing Saiyan DNA."  
  
"Like the ones you showed me," stated Blank. "What will happen to those that have pre-existing Saiyan DNA?"  
  
"To the full-blooded Saiyans, not much. If they come in contact with the virus and haven't become a Super Saiyan yet, they will. Other than that, nothing. But any Saiyan that is not a full Saiyan that comes into contact with whomever has this virus will also become a virtual full-blooded Saiyan," explained Washu.  
  
Blank's hands begin to tremble. "And this virus will spread through Saiyans?"  
  
Washu gave him a hurt look, "Nah. It will only effect a Saiyan IF they come into direct contact with the subject that has been injected. Other than that, the virus can't spread."  
  
Blank's shoulders slump with relief. "Great! Now if you would give me the hypo with the virus I can get to work. I am on a strict time schedule."  
  
Washu produces a Star Trek style hypo-spray and hands it to Blank. Blank places it inside the folds of his cloak and turns to leave when he is stopped by Washu. "You know, I detected awhile ago a spike in Jurian energy from Nerima. You wouldn't know anything about it would you?"  
  
Blank pauses in mid-step, "It is of no concern to you."  
  
"That's where you're wrong. You see, if it's Jurian energy then it'll concern Tenchi. And if it concerns Tenchi, then it concerns me," stated Washu.  
  
"It is Tenchi's cousin. But do not worry. It is only part of his destiny," replied Blank.  
  
"You know Tenchi will go to investigate it," commented Washu.  
  
"I know. We're counting on it," responded Blank as he vanished.  
  
Dr. Tofu and Kasumi appeared in a bright flash of light next to Cologne and Happosai, neither of which seemed surprised with the youngster's entrance.  
  
"I see that you had some troubles getting out of the dojo," stated Cologne.  
  
"You could say that. Nabiki decided that she HAD to have information," replied Tofu.  
  
Happosai took a large puff on his pipe, "When is that girl ever going to learn to mind her own business?"  
  
"Probably when you stop stealing panties," retorted Cologne.  
  
"It's not like she's a bad person. She's just curious," stated Kasumi.  
  
"Child, your sister is walking down a very dark path. Unless she changes soon she will be no better than Happosai," stated Cologne.  
  
"Oh my!" gasped Kasumi.  
  
"Hey! I resent that remark. Unlike her, I don't sell people out behind their backs!" exclaimed Happy.  
  
"Like doing it to their face is any better?" asked Cologne.  
  
Happosai crosses his arms and turns away from the others. "At least they know I did it."  
  
All other bickering was ended when the ball of energy the contained Ranma and Akane imploded, leaving the unconscious forms of the teens laying in the center of the creator. Everyone noticed that there was something now different with the two. Akane now wore a chinese outfit exactly like Ranma's except it was a green sleeveless shirt and black pants instead of Ranma's red sleeveless shirt and black pants.  
  
What really caught their attention was the new brightly colored tattoos now on their shoulders. On Ranma's right shoulder, was a yin-yang symbol with a red dragon wrapping itself around the back side of the symbol. On the other side of the symbol was a coiled green dragon that appeared to be ready to strike at any moment. Each dragon was in incredible detail, with each scale on them being clearly visible making them appear almost life- like.  
  
Akane has a similar tattoo on her left shoulder. Her yin-yang symbol was upside down compared to Ranma's. Also, instead of dragons, Akane had tigers. One tiger was crouched on top of the symbol ready to pounce, red eyes glaring back at the observers. The other tiger was curled up at the base of the symbol, with it's green eyes glaring back. Both tigers were white with the black tiger stripe pattern on them, and so life-like that one could swear that they could hear them purr.  
  
On their opposite shoulder was a brightly burning phoenix. Each feather was visible through the flames that surrounded it. And if one looked closely, they could see that the flames that surround the creature was coming from underneath each feather.  
  
"So much raw power in both of them now," said Cologne in a state of awe.  
  
"Where's Nul? He was suppose to be here by now," stated Happy.  
  
"Right behind you." replied Nul. The party turns to see Nul and Void standing behind them. "The one that's late is Blank."  
  
"I'm not that late," retorted Blank as he materializes in front of the group. Motioning to the bushes at the edge of the creator, "We're being watched."  
  
"I'll handle them," stated Void. "We must hurry before we draw any more attention. We already have three goddesses and his cousin looking into this as we speak." With a flick of her hand, Void vanished in a puff of smoke.  
  
Blank pulls the hypo out of his robe and hands it over to Tofu. "Inject this into both of them."  
  
Tofu looks down at the hypo in his hands, "This is the Saiyan Project you were telling me about?"  
  
"Yes, but we must hurry! The officals will be here soon and we can't afford to have them ruin everything now!" exclaimed Blank.  
  
Tofu complied and went to inject Akane and Ranma with the retro-virus. After completing the tasks Tofu hands the hypo back to Blank and proceeds to pick up Ranma. Kasumi looks on uncertain of what to do.  
  
"Kasumi, I wish we could teleport them but its too dangerous for them." stated Nul.  
  
"I know," replied Kasumi. "But I'm not strong enough to carry Akane. Can't you make her lighter?"  
  
Nul shakes his head, "If any outside force touches them now they will die. The only reason you two can carry them is because of your pure hearts. But I can make you stronger, that should help."  
  
With a snap of Nul's fingers, Kasumi felt a new surge of strength course through her. Kasumi carefully knelt down and placed her sister into her arms expecting a burden. By instead, Akane felt like she weighed no more than her favorite cookbook. After settling her sister in her arms, the group took off back towards the Tendo dojo.  
  
Uyko sat in the bush that has become her hiding place for the past hour wondering what was going on with Ranma. Ever since the mysterious person from her dream vanished, she had been debating whether or not she should go and confront either Cologne or Happosai as to what was going on.  
  
Why won't those two geezers talk? Come on! Tell me something! Shifting positions, Ukyo felt a very uncomfortable tingling in her left leg. Great! I've been here so long that my leg is falling asleep!   
  
Concentrating on retoring blood flow in her leg, Ukyo never noticed Kasumi's or the doctor's entrance. It wasn't until the glow from the energy ball faded that she look up. By that time, Nul, Void, and Vlank had already arrived. Ok, something is DEFINATELY going on. We have Tofu and Kasumi, Happosai and Cologne, they weird guy from my dream that looks like Ranma and a weird looking Akane, the REAL Ranma and Akane lying in the center of the creator, and some freaky guy in a hooded cloak. It was at that moment that the cloaked figure motioned over towards Ukyo's position. Shit! I've been spotted!   
  
Turning to scramble out of her hiding place and make a run for it, Ukyo ran into Void now standing in front of her. "Going somewhere?" questioned Void.  
  
Ukyo could feel all the blood drain from her face as she looked up at Void. "I... I... I..."  
  
Smiling down at Ukyo, "Was concerned for Ranma," stated Void. "Everything will be explained in the morning."  
  
With a flick of Void's wrists, Ukyo's world faded to darkness.  
  
Nabiki Tendo was one that hated to be left out of the loop, and now she was definitely being left out of the loop. First was this incident of Akane's "death" that nobody will fill her in on. The next, was the sudden disappearance of the doctor and her older sister before her eyes by this Nil guy. Then there was this Nil character himself. He was always wearing the hooded cloak, completely hiding any distinguishing features about him.  
  
But what infuriated her the most was that Nil not only booted them all out of the dojo and somehow disabled her spy equipment, but he also ordered them not to touch either Ranma or Akane when they got back stating some lame excuse that to do so would kill them.  
  
How dare he tell me what I can and can't do! How dare he tell me what I should and shouldn't know! How the hell am I going to make more money off that worthless bum if I don't have information to sale. Information leads to fights, fights lead to property damage, property damage leads to one of my construction crews working with leads to more money for me. Leaning back on the couch, she picked up the remote and began flipping channels. So what if I already made millions of yen off of Ranma. I'm going to make sure that I can milk that bum for all he is worth until he gets himself killed or Akane and dad finally see how worthless he is and get rid of him.   
  
Nabiki stopped her flipping when she saw a commercial for Secrete antiperspirant. The announcer was going on and on about their new and improved formula and how it last longer than before. The image switched from showing the deodorant to Ranma in his male form. "Secrete! Strong enough for a man," as the announcer pauses water is dumped on Ranma from above to change him to his female. "Hey! Why did ya do that for?" screamed Ranma. "But made for a woman," continued the announcer.  
  
"Easiest one million yen I've ever made," muttered Nabiki to herself. "And they best thing is Ranma never knew I did it so I never have to pay him."  
  
"And what would your mother think of you?" asked a voice from behind.  
  
Turning to see who made the statement, Nabiki saw that is was Nodoka standing behind her. Smacking herself mentally, Nabiki put on her best poker face and began concocting lies to get her out of this mess. "Whatever do you mean Auntie?"  
  
Nodoka's gaze became cold and stern, causing a shiver to run down her spine. "Save it Nabiki. When I first heard from Ranma what you did to him, I could never believe that the daughter of my best friend could ever do that. It appears that I've been wrong."  
  
Realizing that she was trapped, Nabiki decided to drop her faÃ§ade. "So what you think you know the truth? Why should I care if Ranma is nothing more to me than my own ATM machine? That's all he's worth anyways."  
  
"I see? Now I don't feel so terrible about what I did now," stated Nodoka.  
  
I don't like where she is going with this. "And just what did you do?" asked Nabiki.  
  
From her pocket, Nodoka pulls out a small black book that was very familiar to Nabiki. "Not much dear. I just made it so that all of your accounts with you thirty million yen fortune would become Ranma's and Akane's the moment that they are married. That and I made a few calls to your 'friends' saying that you release them from their debts."  
  
Nabiki leaps for the book, but only meets air as Nodoka side steps her attack. "What gives you the right to do that?"  
  
Calmly placing the book back into her pocket, she pulls a paper and hands it to Nabiki. "Your mother and father decided that when your mother died you and your sisters would sometimes need a mother figure. So they in acted me to be her proxy upon her death. And since you're still a minor, it's within my right to do that."  
  
Nabiki's blood began to boil! All of her schemes and bank accounts were now gone because of Nodoka. "I'll get my money back! I know the account numbers, I'll get them back."  
  
Turning away from Nabiki, Nodoka started walking out of the room. "It won't do you any good. Those accounts are closed, but you can try if it makes you feel better."  
  
Any further conversation was ended when the front door burst open and Happosai and Cologne came speeding through, up the stairs, and into the guest room. A moment latter, Happosai and Cologne was dragging the sleeping Genma out of the room. Next through the door were Nul, Void, and Blank. They formed a human (if you could call them that) barricade blocking off access for the others to either the front door or the stairs.  
  
By this time, Soun had heard the ruckus and had pulled himself from his stupor sitting next to the sogi board to investigate. "Who are you? What's going on here?" Just then Kasumi and Tofu entered, with Akane and Ranma in their arms, and headed up the stairs to the guest room. Nul and Blank was holding back Nodoka and Soun.  
  
"If you touch them before they awake they will both die," declared Nul.  
  
"If that's true, then why can Dr. Tofu and Kasumi touch them and not kill them?" retorted Nabiki.  
  
"Because, unlike you, they have a pure heart. And only those with a pure heart can touch them without harming them," replied Void.  
  
"Until they wake, both Akane and Ranma as well as the room that they are in is off limits," added Nul. "Also, before anyone asks anything, all questions will be answered once those two wake and not a moment sooner. I have no intention of explaining myself five hundred times." Nul snaps his fingers, causing Void, Blank, and himself to vanish in a bright flash of light. The others were left to pull their own jaws off the floor 


End file.
